Intermodal Transportation
Intermodal Transportation
Intermodal Transportation
INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION
Submitted By,
Anoop Vishnani
Submitted to,
INTERMODAL TRANSPORT
Intermodal transportation is the movement of goods in one and the same loading unit or road
vehicle, using successively two or more modes of transport without handling the goods
themselves in changing modes.
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container
or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (rail, ship, and truck), without any
handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and
so improves security, reduces damage and loss, and allows freight to be transported faster.
Reduced costs over road trucking is the key benefit for intracontinental use. This may be
offset by reduced timings for road transport over shorter distances.
This involves the use of at least two different modes in a trip from an origin to a destination
through an intermodal transport chain, which permit the integration of several transportation
networks. Intermodality enhances the economic performance of a transport chain by using
modes in the most productive manner. Thus, the line-haul economies of rail may be exploited
for long distances, with the efficiencies of trucks providing flexible local pick up and
deliveries. The key is that the entire trip is seen as a whole, rather than as a series of legs,
each marked by an individual operation with separate sets of documentation and rates. This is
organized around the followings concepts:
The nature and quantity of the transported cargo. Intermodal transportation is usually suitable
for intermediate and finished goods in load units of less than 25 tons.
The modes of transportation being used. Intermodal transportation is organized as a sequence
of modes, often known as an intermodal transport chain. The dominant modes supporting
intermodalism are trucking, rail, barges and maritime. Air transportation usually only require
intermodalism (trucking) for its "first and last miles" and not used in combination with other
modes. Additionally, load units used by air transportation are not readily convertible with
other modes.
The origins and destinations. Distances play an important role as the longer the distance, the
more likely an intermodal transport chain will be used. Distances above 500 km (longer than
one day of trucking) usually require intermodal transportation.
Transportation time and costs. Intermodalism tries to use each mode according to their
respective time and cost advantages so that total transport costs are minimized.
The value of the cargo. Suitable for intermediate cargo values. Low and high value shipments
are usually less suitable for intermodal transportation. High value shipments will tend to use
the most direct options (such as air cargo) while low value shipments are usually point to
point and relying on one mode such as rail or maritime.
The frequency of shipments. Intermodalism functions well when cargo flows need to be
continuous and in similar quantities.
Intermodal transport is transforming a growing share of the medium and long-haul freight
flows across the globe where large integrated transport carriers provide door to door services,
such as the high degree of integration between maritime and rail transport in North America.
In Europe rail intermodal services are becoming well-established between the major ports,
such as Rotterdam, and southern Germany, and between Hamburg and Eastern Europe. Rail
shuttles are also making their appearance in China, although their market share remains
modest. While rail intermodal transport has been relatively slow to develop in Europe, there
are extensive interconnections between barge services and ocean shipping, particularly on the
Rhine. Barge shipping offers a low cost solution to inland distribution where navigable
waterways penetrate to interior markets. This solution is being tested in North America,
although with limited success so far. The limits of intermodality are imposed by factors of
space, time, form, pattern of the network, the number of nodes and linkages, and the type and
characteristic of the vehicles and terminals.
Containerization
The driver of intermodal transportation has undoubtedly been the container, which permits
easy handling between modal systems. While intermodalism could take lace without the
container, it would be very inefficient and costly. At start, a distinction is necessary between
containerization and the container.
Container: A large standard size metal box into which cargo is packed for shipment aboard
specially configured transport modes. It is designed to be moved with common handling
equipment enabling high-speed intermodal transfers in economically large units between
ships, railcars, truck chassis, and barges using a minimum of labor. The container, therefore,
serves as the load unit rather than the cargo contained therein. The reference size is the 20
foot box, 20 feet long, 8'6" feet high and 8 feet wide, or 1 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit
(TEU). Since the great majority of containers are now forty foot long, the term Forty-foot
Equivalent Unit (FEU) is also used, but less commonly. "Hi cube" containers are also
common. They are one feet higher (9'6") than the standard.
Containerization: Refers to the increasing and generalized use of the container as a support
for freight transportation. It involves processes where the intermodal container is increasingly
used because it either substitutes cargo from other conveyances, is adopted as a mode
box, which in its 2,400 cubic feet which carry on average 22 tons of cargo. There are five
main types of containers:
Standard container: Container designed to carry a wide variety general cargo. They are
often labeled as dry containers because they carry dry goods either in break bulk (most
common) or bulk (less common) form. Cargo is loaded and unloaded through a double door
which marks the "back side" of the container.
Tank container: Container designed to carry liquids (chemicals or foodstuff). It is composed
of a tank surrounded by a structure making it the same size than a standard 20 foot containers,
including its four latching points.
Open top container: A container with an open roof and designed to carry cargo that is too
large to be loaded through standard container doors, such as machinery. The container is
loaded from the top with a tarpaulin used to cover its contents.
Flat container: Container having an open roof and sides designed to carry heavy and
oversized cargo. The cargo transported is left exposed to outdoor conditions.
Refrigerated container: Also known as a reefer. Container designed to carry temperature
controlled cargo, often around or below freezing point. It is insulated and equipped with
refrigeration plant maintaining the temperature constant.
International containers are either owned by shipping lines that tend to use them has a tool to
help fill up their ships or by leasing companies using containerized assets for revenue
generation. In the United States, a large amount of International containers are either owned
by shipping lines that tend to use them has a tool to help fill up their ships or by leasing
companies using containerized assets for revenue generation. In the United States, a large
amount of domestic containers of 53 foot are also used. Double-stacking of containers on
railways (COFC: Containers On Flat Cars) has doubled the capacity of trains to haul freight
with minimal cost increases, thereby improving the competitive position of the railways with
regards to trucking for long-haul shipments.
While it is true that the maritime container has become the work horse of international trade,
other types of containers are found in certain modes, most notably in the airline industry.
High labor costs and the slowness of loading planes, that require a very rapid turnaround,
made the industry very receptive to the concept of a loading unit of standard dimensions
designed to fit the specific shape of the bellyhold. The maritime container was too heavy and
did not fit the rounded configuration of a planes fuselage, and thus a box specific to the
needs of the airlines was required. The major breakthrough came with the introduction of
wide-bodied aircraft in the late 1970s. Light weight aluminum boxes, called unit load
devices, could be filled with passengers baggage or parcels and freight, and loaded into the
holds of the planes using tracking that requires little human assistance.
costs remain significant. Between half and two-third of total transport costs for a TEU is
accounted by land transport.
Public policy is also playing a role through concerns over the dominant position of road
transport in modal competition and the resultant concerns over congestion, safety and
environmental degradation. In Europe, policies have been introduced to induce a shift of
freight and passengers from the roads to modes that are environmentally more efficient.
Intermodal transport is seen as a solution that could work in certain situations. In Switzerland,
for example, laws stipulate that all freight crossing through the country must be placed on the
railways in order to try to reduce air pollution in alpine valleys. The European Union is trying
to promote intermodal alternatives by subsidizing rail, and shipping infrastructure and
increasing road user costs. Since intermodal transportation is mostly the outcome of private
initiatives seeking to capture market opportunities it remains to be seen to what extent public
strategies can be reconciled with a global intermodal transport system which is flexible and
footloose.
While economies of scale enabled to reduce the unit costs of maritime, inland intermodal
transportation costs account to about 50% of the total costs if terminal costs are included.
With the deregulation and privatization trends that began in the 1980's, containerization,
which was already well established in the maritime sector, could spread inland. The shipping
lines were among the first to exploit the intermodal opportunities that deregulation permitted.
They could offer door-to-door rates to customers by integrating rail services and local truck
pick-up and delivery in a seamless network. To achieve this they leased trains, managed rail
terminals, and in some cases purchased trucking firms. In this way they could serve
customers across the country by offering door-to-door service from suppliers located around
the world. The move inland also led to some significant developments, most notably the
double-stacking of containers on rail cars. This produced important competitive advantages
for intermodal rail transport and favored the development of inland terminals. It also required
various forms of transloading between maritime and domestic container units.