LAND FERRY SETS SAIL SURVEYING LONG-HAUL FREIGHT CARRIERS

Land Ferry creates a new “lane” for freight.

FIRM GATHERING CUSTOMER INPUT FOR NEW INTERMODAL SERVICE THAT FERRIES RIGS AND OPERATORS ACROSS FREIGHT CORRIDORS 30% FASTER AND 75% CLEANER THAN TRUCKING

TUCSON, AZ, UNITED STATES, May 13, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Here’s a question: What do supply chain disruptions, truck driver shortages, greenhouse gas emissions, deteriorating highways, traffic jams, and truck-car crashes all have in common?

Here’s the answer: All of these bad things are lessened by Land Ferry^®.

According to their website, Land Ferry^® is a new intermodal freight service that combines the long-distance efficiency of rail with the door-to-door service of trucks in a new way. Land Ferry creates efficiencies by maintaining operator-tractor-trailer-load pairings during rail transport.

Founder and CEO Gary Schneider, further explains, “Big rigs boarding Land Ferry will sail 1,300+ miles non-stop across two major freight corridors paralleling Interstate 80 and Interstate 40. Operators ride in lounge cars and rest in private pods similar to sleeper cabs. Operators arrive at the destination Land Ferry port legally rested and ready to roll for their final five or five-hundred miles.

When operational, Land Ferry will aggregate thousands of individual cross-country truck trips 24x7x365 at its land ports – shifting these rigs onto Land Ferry railcars. Then BNSF Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad hooks and hauls Land Ferry’s regularly scheduled unit trains non-stop across their respective corridors.

“Modal transition, that is shifting rigs from road to rail and back, is almost seamless. Rigs roll up, roll on, and roll off. Simple. Like a ferry. In essence, Land Ferry creates a new lane for long-haul freight.”

Click here to see a one-minute video introducing Land Ferry.

Originated in Switzerland

The Land Ferry^® concept was shaped 15 years ago when Schneider’s boutique transportation engineering firm was studying the impacts of increasing truck traffic on Interstate 80 for the Wyoming Department of Transportation and the USDOT. This led Schneider’s firm to evaluate whether a little-known intermodal system tucked away between Italy and Switzerland could be adapted to the U.S.

Says Schneider, “Land Ferry is modeled after a service operating in the Alps. It was conceived for a different use case – to reduce congestion, increase resiliency, and to improve safety by diverting trucks from mountain roads to rail. It has been in service for 20 years. By and large, operators love it. Our research identified three freight corridors in the U.S. with the truck densities and the distances and the rail service for the non-stop unit trains that make Land Ferry a feasible private sector play.”

Benefits Across the Map

Schneider, who is a third-generation railroader and a transportation engineer, claims his firm’s Land Ferry^® has the potential to transform long-haul freight movement across the western and midwestern U.S. This new service will decrease transit time 25-40% for rigs, freight, and operators.

“These efficiency gains create more operator hours, essentially more operators, by increasing their turns per month, and this can translate to more down time and a better quality of life for the profession.”

From an equity point of view, Land Ferry^® gives independent owner-operators and small trucking firms an intermodal option that they have never had. In an industry where things are often stacked against the little guy, Land Ferry will serve all carrier classes. First-come, first-serve. First-on, first-off.

Land Ferry integrates well with drop and pick operations. Under this use case, the operator does not ride along with the rig on Land Ferry. Rather the operator drives to the land port and drops a rig off on an outbound ferry then picks a rig up from an inbound ferry and drives off towards a final destination.

For trucks traveling these middle miles via Land Ferry, GHG emissions are 75% less. Schneider has done the math and says these savings add up. Each Land Ferry truck trip averts more than one metric ton of carbon. He believes these carbon savings, and the time savings, will be monetized by shippers and carriers.

“Land Ferry customers can do well by doing good. Land Ferry has many public and private benefits. It is elegant in its simplicity. There is no technology dependency. Land Ferry will be operational in 24 – 30 months and begin helping to save our Planet one truck trip at a time.”

Carrier Survey on Deck

Land Ferry^® will begin surveying approximately 2,000 long-haul carriers who regularly use Interstate 40 and Interstate 80. Survey results will help Land Ferry tailor its service to different types of carriers with different operating models. The survey signals that Land Ferry is making headway and serves as an invitation to come aboard and join their Community.

The survey will open at 8am ET on May 13th. Schneider says the survey has about 20 questions and takes about 15 minutes. Information will be kept confidential. The survey is only open to USDOT registered carriers.

Summary results will be shared with respondents. The survey will automatically close after two thousand valid responses. Only one survey per DOT Number will be accepted.

There are two rewards for completing the survey. Land Ferry respondents will receive a $500 discount on their first passage when service commences. And to begin building a Community, Land Ferry will grant each respondent a stock option – an opportunity to own a small slice of Land Ferry^® down the road. Rewards will be transmitted to respondents in the form of digital certificates.

Click here to access the survey.

Land Ferry^® will connect with freight brokers via a separate survey. “Brokers are an important customer segment for us. Brokers deal with a myriad of freight use cases and customer crises day-in and day-out. By their nature they’re fixers… Land Ferry’s new freight “lane” will give brokers new ways to fix customer challenges and to open new business opportunities. If you’re a broker reading this and you would like to participate in the upcoming broker survey, please email us at [email protected] Thanks in advance.”

Lost in the Fog and Hype

So far, Land Ferry^® has received little fanfare or industry attention or investor interest. This includes the U.S. Department of Transportation. Schneider hopes that this is about to change. He cites a couple reasons why he thinks Land Ferry has been sailing under the radar.

“First, much of the logistics ecosystem is focused on improving freight movement via autonomous trucks and emissions reductions via electric trucks. Both autonomous trucks and electric trucks have some of the benefits of Land Ferry in terms of time savings and de-carbing freight, respectively.

Autonomous trucks and electric trucks are complementary with Land Ferry, not competitive. Someday when these new breeds of trucks are operating, they’ll ride on Land Ferry, too.

But neither autonomous trucks, nor electric trucks, nor autonomous-electric trucks will reduce congestion or road damage or the crashes and fatalities that are inevitable wherever trucks and cars, traveling at high speeds, share the road.

Land Ferry, on the other hand, physically separates trucks from cars. Land Ferry^® does all of this – all of these good things.

As our team shifts gears and has a chance to tell our story, we’re confident that Land Ferry will find some love across the spectrum of carriers and shippers and infrastructure investors.”

“Secondly, there’s been some confusion between Land Ferry^®, which is our multi-state, multi-route transcontinental intermodal service and a 2015 study and video coincidently called land ferry that was funded by the Nevada Department of Transportation.”

Schneider says that he often gets asked about this mistaken identity…

“The 2015 Nevada study borrowed the term land ferry from my Company’s 2005 work. Although they used the same name, Nevada’s concept was fundamentally different. The Nevada study focused on the stretch of Interstate 80 across their state. It required special railcars and complex loading and unloading mechanics and processes. The Nevada study called for multiple stops across the state. It was powered by renewable electricity. It was more of a state-based engineering concept than a feasible corridor solution – and unlike Land Ferry^®, likely infeasible without big subsidies and other state-sponsored incentives.

Going forward, hopefully this clarifies that. Land Ferry is not about branding. But for what it’s worth, Land Ferry^® is our registered trademark.”

About Land Ferry^®

Land Ferry North LLC (Cheyenne, WY) and Land Ferry South LLC (Tucson, AZ) are separate entities, collectively referred to as Land Ferry^®. Land Ferry^® is a new intermodal service that combines the long-distance efficiency of rail with the door-to-door service of trucks in a new way to create a new freight “lane”.

For More Information

For more information visit: https://www.land-ferry.com or email us: [email protected]

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Gary Schneider
Land Ferry South LLC
[email protected]

Introduction to Land Ferry