Intermodal rate

An intermodal rate is a single through price for moving a container from an inland origin to an inland destination across sea and land legs under one contract. The carrier quotes door-to-door or ramp-to-ramp covering pre-carriage haulage, ocean freight, terminal handling, and on-carriage as one figure rather than separate leg charges. It rests on a combined transport or multimodal bill of lading, so the ocean carrier takes contractual responsibility for the whole chain. The rate structure lets the line control inland haulage (carrier haulage) and capture margin beyond the port-to-port move.