Abstract
The research paper examines the benefits of intermodal transportation which are broadly explained as the movement of products in a single loading vehicle or unit that prosperously utilizes two or more forms of transport without handling the products themselves in modes that are changing. Intermodal transportation has become a primary mode of transportation because of the benefits it accrues. The paper seeks to be informative on intermodal transportation and also broadly discuss the benefits that intermodal transportation provides.
Introduction
The available infrastructure in a country determines the level of mobility. The benefits of investing in transport infrastructure include the growth of the economic sector, development of jobs and wealth, as well as enhancing trade, geographical accessibility, and mobility. It is important for it to be planned to increase the positive effect on the growth of the economy as well decreasing negative impacts on the environment. Transportation is considered to be a service that is multiple to a variety of multiple users. Transportation networks provide transport that supplies infrastructure to facilitate economic activities. One of the most crucial parts of the economy in the transportation industry (Economic Benefits of Developing Intermodal Transportation in The European Union, 2012). When looking at the European Union, it has created jobs for ten million individuals, and it contributes to about five percent of the GDP.
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Intermodal transportation is the movement of products in a single loading vehicle or unit that prosperously utilizes two or more forms of transport without handling the products themselves in modes that are changing (Hanssen, 2014). Intermodal transport’s primary concept is to use the strengths of a variety of modes of transport in one connected chain of transport, thus enhancing the performance of the economy. Researchers have said that the fulfillment of the economy is improved since the most efficient mode of transport is utilized on each segment of a trip. The objective of this paper is to be informative on intermodal transportation and also discuss the benefits that intermodal transportation provides.
In the current world, the backbone of universal trade is formed by intermodal transportation. Intermodal transportation aims to connect the different transportation modes and services to enhance the efficiency of the process of distribution, unlike conventional transportation systems in which a variety of transportation modes function independently. Intermodal transportation shows significant growth parallel to the increase in the quantity of transported freight and the ever-changing needs of supply chains (Hanssen, 2014). Following the U.S Department of transportation, multimodal shipments increased their value from roughly six hundred and sixty-two billion to approximately one trillion in a time frame of nine years, between 1993 and 2003.
Shippers and carriers are the most important players when it comes to intermodal transportation. Traffic demand is created by exporters while carriers provide the services for transportation for moving the market that is set up by shippers. Also, another critical player is the intermodal network which is comprised of the services of multimodal as well as terminals. The performance of the systems of intermodal transportation is determined by the interactions of the major players in this transportation system and their expectations, behavior, as well as regular conflicting needs.
Intermodal Transportation
Many systems of transportation are multimodal, in that the infrastructure facilitates different modes of transportation, for instance, truck, air, rail, as well as river/ocean navigation, and carriers functioning together with giving services of transportation in these modes. Broadly, the term intermodal transportation implies the transportation of freight or individuals from their point of origin to their intended destination by using at least two modes of transportation. Intermodal terminals are where transfers from one mode of transportation to the other takes place (Frank Meisel, 2013). The terminal maybe in-land or a seaport, for example, ports of rivers, rail yards, and airports.
Intermodal transportation aims to consolidate goods for efficient long-distance transportation, for instance, by ocean vessels or rail, while at the same time taking advantage of the effective delivery trucks. This emphasizes the benefits of transportation that are container-based. When it comes to freight intermodal transportation, it relies on moving container via chains of multimodal over long distances. This form of transportation is not limited, but, to intercontinental exchanges together with containers.
Benefits of intermodal transportation
Intermodal transportation is suitable for transporting imports, exports as well as carrying shipments that are cross-continental (Pichet Kunadhamraks, 2008). It is a simplified means of transportation which can affect prosperity in a huge manner companies that are concerned with logistics and supply chain management. Many people who deal with freight transportation fancy intermodal transportation because there is increased the security of various goods and their costs are also lower. The services are also becoming popular because of the environmental benefits that it brings, results of highway safety, as well as savings when it comes to costs.
The major advantage of intermodal transportation is low external costs. The outer price of an intermodal train per ton-km is about twenty-eight percent of the foreign price of a typical freight truck. Shippers also benefit from pricing that is predictable including lower costs. There is also flexibility seen in loading as well as offloading goods on a trailer environment. This decreases the costs in handling. Because intermodal transportation enables cost savings, shippers mainly benefit as there is a faster movement of goods than depending on methods that are traditional of utilizing trucks only.
Intermodal transportation is also an environmental friendly in comparison to using single transportation modes like trucks. People are paying more attention to green initiatives thereby wanting the goods to be transported through transportation modes that have the least adverse effect on the environment. Large trucks remove only 20 lbs of Carbon (IV) Oxide per 100-ton-miles which is relatively safe for the environment (J. Bauer, 2010). When it comes to train, they only emit 5 lbs of C02 or even less, over a similar mileage. This implies that intermodal transportation is suitable as it significantly decreases the amount of carbon released into the environment.
Another advantage of intermodal transportation is that shippers have the opportunity of accessing transit equipment and schedules that are standardized, and in a better manner. This revolves around reliability, capacity, as well as safety benefits. Many organizations who adopt intermodal services will have the ability to raise their management of supply chain together with reverse logistics. The executives of logistics are in a better position to follow current as well as future rules in the industry when they decide to start using intermodal transportation and accept services of transportation logistics (R.Sox, 2010).
Economic benefits of Intermodal Transportation
There is an increase in transportation volume in the existing network which can result in economies of density. This density is achieved via using containers (containerization0, consolidations of cargo as well as using systems that are guided by computers at intermodal facilities. When cargo is containerized and consolidated, it leads to a rise in load factor of vehicles for transportation as well as increased capacity use of the transportation facilities that are fixed. Also, using systems that are guided by computer leads to high labor productivity.
There is also a decrease in the costs of logistics. A rise in reliability, modal choice as well as frequency of service characterizes intermodal transportation. These features, when put together, allows for just-in-time delivery which is substantially produced by intermodal transportation and has become an imperative factor in doing business worldwide. When delivery is on time, it decreases the burden of holding costs of inventory. Inventory holding costs are included in the costs of logistics which they are responsible for a significant share of production prices of companies (Yevdokimov, 2009). Therefore, there is an improvement in the productivity of the economic sector when the inventory holding costs are reduced.
Also, there is the expansion of transportation network as well as economies of size. Transportation systems facilitate the production of carriage services. Transportation systems can be characterized by traffic and the mileage between all points of service in the network. Network expansion means adding new services and new points of service. Intermodal transportation is made of interconnected networks. Thus, it increases the size of the systems that are existing by creating fresh service points. This can result in economies of size which are considered a transportation analog of economies of scale (Yevdokimov, 2009). There is also better access to both input and output markets because of intermodal transportation.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, it is important to heavily invest in transport infrastructure because it can result in the growth of the economy, creation of employment opportunities and wealth, improve trade, as well as geographical accessibility and mobility. It is among the vital parts of the economy in the transportation industry. Intermodal transportation is very beneficial in a country. Its primary concept is to use the strengths of a variety of modes of transport in one connected chain of transport, thus enhancing the performance of the economy. From the research, intermodal transportation has many benefits which include decreased costs of logistics, safety of goods, environmental friendly as well as the expansion of transportation network and economies of size.
References
Economic Benefits of Developing Intermodal Transportation in The European Union. (2012). 82.
Frank Meisel, T. K. (2013). Integrated production and intermodal transportation planning in large scale production–distribution-networks. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review , 62-78.
Hanssen, T. A.-E. (2014). The Academic Literature on Intermodal Freight Transport. Transportation Research Procedia 3 , 611-620.
J. Bauer, T. B. (2010). Minimizing greenhouse gas emissions in intermodal freight transport: an application to rail service design. Journal of the Operational Research Society , 530-542.
Pichet Kunadhamraks, S. H. (2008). Evaluating the Logistics Performance of Intermodal Transportation in Thailand. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics , 323-342.
R.Sox, R. I. (2010). Intermodal logistics: The interplay of financial, operational and service issues. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review , 926-949.
Yevdokimov, Y. V. (2009). Measuring Economic Benefits of Intermodal Transportation. 1-20.
