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What is Switch Billing?

Switch billing is how railroads charge for terminal switching services - the movement of railcars within a yard or terminal area, typically at the origin or destination of a shipment.

Origin Switching

Moving cars from a shipper’s facility to the outbound train.

Intermediate Switching

Transferring cars between railroads within a terminal.

Delivery Switching

Moving cars from an inbound train to the consignee’s facility.
Switch carriers are often short-line railroads or terminal companies that provide local service within industrial areas where line-haul carriers don’t operate directly.

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Why Automated Switch Billing?

Manual switch billing creates problems: - Missed billing when switches aren’t tracked - Delayed payments from late invoice generation - Disputes when documentation is incomplete
Cedar automates the entire process - from identifying switch carriers in routes to generating and transmitting switch bills.

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How Cedar Handles Switch Billing

1

Identify Switch Carriers

Cedar automatically identifies switch carriers in your waybill routes based on their role codes.
2

Generate Switch Bills

For each switch carrier, Cedar generates the appropriate billing document with the correct content.
3

Transmit EDI

Switch bills are sent electronically to each switch carrier.
4

Track Acknowledgments

Cedar tracks acknowledgments to confirm receipt of each switch bill.

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Key Features

Automatic Detection

Cedar identifies switch carriers from waybill routes automatically - no manual flagging required.
Configure payment terms and routing options to match your switching arrangements.

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Integration with Other Features

Switch billing works alongside Cedar’s other EDI automation features:

Waybill Transmission

Send waybills to line-haul carriers and switch bills to switch carriers in coordinated workflows.

Haulage Management

Routes with both haulage and switch carriers are handled correctly - each carrier gets the right message.

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Getting Started

Switch billing is configured through Cedar’s workflow automation. Contact your Cedar implementation team to enable switch billing for your operations.
1

Identify Switch Relationships

Determine which switch carriers you work with regularly.
2

Configure Workflows

Set up automation rules for switch bill generation and transmission.
3

Set Payment Terms

Configure appropriate payment methods for your switch billing arrangements.
4

Enable Production

Turn on automated switch billing.

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Questions?

For questions about switch billing configuration or to enable additional features, contact your Cedar account team or email [email protected].