Intermodal Marketing Companies

Rich history in the railroad industry

Blume Global began life in 1994 as Rez-1, a company that provided asset management, billing, domestic reload and other services to the domestic railroad industry. IMCs have used Rez-1 to book rail services for decades. Blume Global grew out of this close association with the railroads and IMCs in 2018 as a global supply chain technology provider, but we have never turned away from the close association that founded the company. The long history of intermodal supply chain data and service is the foundation of Blume's offerings today, and Blume’s array of solutions for IMCs reflects that dedication.

Intermodal customers have turned to us due to our unique relationships with the railroads and the significant amount of actionable intermodal data we have accumulated over the years. With this insight, we provide customers with an array of solutions that can solve the pain points in their supply chain with little oversight, enabling them to excel in the new uncertainties of the supply chain industry.

Street Turns: IMCs optimize service, saving time and money while reducing emissions

For IMCs managing assets, Blume Street Turns significantly improves driver and truck utilization, increasing turns while reducing congestion and CO2 emissions around ports and rail ramps. This happens seamlessly by digitally matching incoming imports with outgoing exports around marine terminals and outbound with inbound moves around rail ramps. The company’s rich ecosystem of ocean freight forwarders, ocean carriers and dray carriers means that IMCs like you can access an extremely large volume of outbound and inbound moves, significantly increasing the opportunity for street turns. 

How does it all work? Let’s say a dray carrier wants to match an outbound move of a 53’ domestic container from a rail ramp in Chicago to a distribution center in Indianapolis with an inbound move from Fort Wayne back to Chicago. The dray carrier will request approval from the IMC. Once approved, the dray carrier will execute the move saving time and gas costs while reducing CO2 emissions and congestion around the rail ramp. All through the power of AI.

Interline schedules for accurate railroad data all in one place

At least two railways are typically required to make a delivery across the United States, so planning for long-haul moves can be a challenge. Blume Global provides current, real-time intermodal schedules for major Class I railroads, which allows shippers and intermodal marketing companies to easily synchronize shipments across different providers. 

In concert with Blume Interline Schedules, Blume’s asset management feature tracks details around the movement of intermodal rail shipments and how they interchange. Additionally, Blume validates the real-world movement of freight delivery schedules with the ability to catch missing interchange points and improve accuracy with future deliveries. With the initial participation of UP, NS, and CSX, Blume Interline Schedules provides a map of the EMP and UMAX container pools used by IMCs. Blume looks to add more railroad schedules that will fuel its digital twin of the supply chain world, Blume Maps.  

Intermodal execution that goes beyond the standard TMS

Blume solutions optimize assets to reduce carbon emissions, eliminate wasteful practices, and generate efficiencies across the supply chain. Blume Global's digital operating platform for supply chain execution enables a sustainable, more agile multimodal supply chain. And as the speed of supply chain disruptions increases, Blume creates technology that allows stakeholders to plan, predict and adjust to keep goods flowing around the world while reducing their carbon footprints. 

Blume Logistics is the only cloud first, industry-leading, secure, API-enabled, real-time platform that connects, and uplifts the entire logistics supply chain ecosystem. Built on technology that continuously collects and analyzes data in real time from the extensive Blume network, it searches for opportunities to provide superior customer service while balancing cost. Blume’s intermodal TMS offers:

Automation : Optimize and automate shipment planning and execution. Capitalize on management by exception to focus on what is important.
Agility : Dynamically change the transportation plan during execution to take advantage of opportunities and address issues impacting delivery dates, cargo quality and cost.
Aid : Chose from an extensive network of carriers, ensuring transportation capacity is always available.