Chicago Intermodal Transportation

What Chicago Intermodal Transportation does

Chicago Intermodal Transportation (CIT) is a privately held intermodal trucking company founded circa 1996 and headquartered in Alsip, Illinois. The company provides short-distance drayage services — transporting 53-foot domestic intermodal shipping containers between rail terminals and final customer destinations — using a 100% owner operator fleet model. CIT operates within a 300-mile dedicated lane radius with 1-2 day delivery windows, serving as a 'house carrier' for national brands across Midwest and Southeast US corridors. The company holds SmartWay certification for environmental sustainability and is bonded.

CIT's service portfolio includes intermodal trucking, local and regional drayage, cross-town drayage, and warehousing/transload services (Chicago market only). Operations are distributed across 9-10 terminal locations — including Chicago IL, Indianapolis IN, Kansas City MO, St Louis MO, Louisville KY, Minneapolis MN, Jacksonville FL, Miami FL, Titusville FL, and Winter Haven FL — with contractual access to multiple Class I and regional railroad networks (CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, Florida East Coast). All market locations feature monitored and secured yards for container storage. The technology stack comprises standard intermodal logistics tooling, including ELD equipment for DOT compliance and real-time shipment tracking, alongside an internal monthly maintenance reporting system for fleet vehicles.

Revenue is generated through transaction-fee-based pricing on drayage moves, with quote-based rates (not publicly disclosed). The go-to-market motion is sales-led, relying on direct executive relationships (President Edward Rom) and house carrier engagements with national brands. The company is owner-operated under President Edward Rom, who purchased the business from Jacob Rom in October 2016, with Alan Vodovoz as CFO and Antoine Peterson as General Manager leading a corporate headcount of 11-50. Driver acquisition is a parallel community-led motion executed through the IntelliApp platform with terminal-specific landing pages.

Name

Chicago Intermodal Transportation

Legal name

Chicago Intermodal Transportation

Website

https://chitrans.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chicago Intermodal Transportation is a privately held intermodal trucking company providing short-distance drayage of shipping containers between rail terminals and final destinations. It operates a 100% owner operator fleet across 9-10 Midwest and Southeast US terminals, serving national brands as a dedicated house carrier.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intermodal Drayage Services

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (4885)

SIC

Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210), Trucking (No Local) (4213)

akta.pro primary industry

Intermodal Drayage & Cartage (First/Last Mile) (TLADAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Intermodal Drayage TL Carriers (Port/Rail Ramp Drayage) (TLADADAF), Drayage & Intermodal Truck Transfer (Port/Rail Ramp) (TLACACAE), Intermodal Terminal Value-Added Services (Cross-Dock, Transload, Stuffing/Stripping) (TLAJAFAL), Intermodal Terminal Operations (Rail Ramps/Port Intermodal Yards) (TLADAFAE)

Keywords

• Intermodal drayage services
• Local container trucking
• Regional freight transport
• Warehousing and transload
• Owner operator trucking

Headquarters

HQ city

Alsip

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Intermodal Trucking Services: Chicago Intermodal Transportation generates revenue through intermodal drayage services, transporting shipping containers between rail terminals and final destinations. The company operates 53ft domestic intermodal carriers with a 100% owner operator fleet model. Revenue is derived from transportation fees charged to customers for local, regional, and cross-town drayage services. Additional revenue streams include warehousing and transload services (Chicago market only).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Chicago Intermodal Transportation provides short-distance intermodal trucking (drayage) services, transporting 53ft domestic shipping containers between rail terminals and final destinations within a 300-mile radius. The company operates a 100% owner-operator fleet across 9+ terminal locations in the Midwest and Southeast U.S., offering local, regional, and cross-town drayage, plus warehousing and transload services in the Chicago market.

Product overview

Chicago Intermodal Transportation operates as an intermodal trucking company offering a unified service portfolio centered on short-distance intermodal logistics. The core offering is intermodal trucking (1-2 day shipping) supplemented by local, regional, and cross-town drayage services. The company also provides warehousing and transload services (Chicago only), monitored/secured yards, and internal compliance tools including a D.O.T.-required monthly maintenance reporting system. All services are delivered through a network of 100% owner-operators with routes primarily within 300 miles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Intermodal Trucking Services
• Local Drayage
• Regional Drayage Regional trucking services for 53ft container transport within a defined Midwest and Southeast geographic region, delivered through 9+ terminal locations.
• Cross-Town Drayage Cross-town container transport services for urban logistics needs between rail ramps and final destinations in the same metro area.
• Warehousing and Transload Services Warehouse storage and transloading services for containers, available in the Chicago market only as an add-on to the company's drayage offering.

Quantifiable outcome

• Fleet grew from 20 to 120 owner operator trucks under Edward Rom's leadership
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Railroads (Unspecified)coreOthersChicago Intermodal Transportation maintains contracts with railroads that provide access to intermodal ramps across their service territory. These railroad partnerships enable the company to serve as the drayage component of intermodal shipping, transporting containers between rail terminals and final destinations. The railroads served include CSX, Norfolk Southern (NS), Canadian National (CN), and Florida East Coast (FEC) across the Midwest and Southeast regions.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Hub Group: Publicly traded intermodal and logistics company offering drayage as part of a broader intermodal, brokerage, and dedicated portfolio, overlapping CIT's niche within a much larger platform.
• J.B. Hunt Transport (Intermodal): Major intermodal carrier whose JBI segment includes dray operations tied to Class I railroads, competing broadly in intermodal container movement at national scale.

Direct peers

• ContainerPort Group: Intermodal drayage and container management company operating multiple terminals at rail ramps, competing in the same short-haul container transport niche as CIT.
• STG Logistics: Container-first drayage and intermodal logistics provider (including former XPO intermodal assets) offering drayage and transload, overlapping CIT's service scope at larger scale.
• Evans Delivery Company: Owner-operator-based intermodal and drayage carrier across many U.S. terminals, mirroring CIT's 100% owner-operator model and regional drayage focus.
• IMC Companies: One of the largest U.S. intermodal drayage providers with a broad terminal footprint serving rail ramps and ports, the same first/last-mile container movement CIT specializes in.
• RoadOne IntermodaLogistics: National intermodal drayage and container logistics carrier operating a terminal network at rail ramps and ports, directly matching CIT's core drayage-plus-transload offering.
• NFI Intermodal: Large intermodal drayage and dedicated fleet operator with a national ramp network, competing directly for enterprise house-carrier drayage accounts.

Emerging players

• DrayNow: Digital intermodal drayage marketplace connecting shippers with owner-operators, an emerging tech-enabled competitor targeting the same ramp-to-door drayage moves as CIT.

Regional players

• Gulf Winds International: Regional intermodal drayage and container logistics carrier concentrated in the Gulf/Southeast, comparable in model but focused on a different core geography than CIT's Midwest base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ChgoIntermodal

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chicago Intermodal Transportation