Intermodal Transportation
Intermodal transportation has changed the transportation industry
Charles Terry Anders Student ID 4097220
TLMT 331
American Military University
Professor John Ensor
8/11/12

Abstract There are two types of intermodal transportation and they are one is about moving of the people and the other is the movement of cargo using more than one type of mode of transportation. In the paper the goal is to share the information about the types of shipping methods that makes the transportation industry a much improved industry.

Intermodal transportation has changed the transportation industry The intermodal transportation is about using more than one mode of transportation when shipping cargo or passengers. As far as passenger travel goes a good example of intermodal transportation is a family vacation to somewhere like Hawaii. The family drives an automobile to either to an airport or shipping port depending on whether the family wants to fly or take a cruise. The modes of transportation used in this example here is automobile and airplane or cruise ship. Now looking at an example of intermodal transportation as it pertains to moving cargo; let’s say Wal-mart has ordered a shipment of goods from China the shipment will go onto a truck to get to the shipping port or to an airport go across the ocean then back onto a truck and then to the store or distribution warehouse. The shipping and transportation industry was revolutionized in 1950 by a man named Malcolm McLean by the invention of containerization. This is basically when you are unloading difficult or hard to handle cargo. The philosophy is to put this cargo into a large container about the size of a semi-tractor trailer. Once the cargo is loaded into the steel container then a specialized crane is used to load the cargo onto the ship hold or stowage (Pearson, 2001). Even though Malcolm Mclean revolutionized containerization, containers have been a part of the transportation since the eighteenth century one of those containers were the wooden coal containers and then a little later on Isambard Kingdom Containers introduced iron containers for the coal (Childress,2005). Also they considered flat containers, wood curved roof containers which were popular in the United Kingdom, and one of the military’s favorite container is a pallet which was first introduced in the World War II and is used still today (Childress, 2005). Containers are used are also called intermodal containers or ISO containers. Now with containerization being understood one needs to understand what type of equipment is used to make life easier on the docks, terminals, and depots and what this equipment does to help. Companies have transtainers which is used in transferring cargo from ships to either trucks or trains. Gantry cranes or straddles carriers which are equipment that allows for quick loading or unloading of cargo. Also, along the same lines as the straddle carriers there grappler lifts which do the same as the carriers. Reach stackers is used to stack containers on top of each other or the change from one container to another. Side lifters are equipment that goes with semi-trailer trucks that maybe going to smaller shipyards or ports. All this equipment is crucial to a shipyard, terminals, or train depots (Childress, 2005). As the process has continued to improve over the years with upgrades to the ports and to the equipment that is used for loading and unloading cargo, it has been a necessity for ports, depots, and terminals to upgrade and improve because of the increase of imported goods over the years. The size of the ports has grown over the years to accommodate the increase in the volume of incoming cargo. For example the Port of Charleston has these improvements and plans for many more today and for the years to come; the South Carolina Ports Authority helps the ports grow. In addition to a new facility that is under construction at the former Charleston Naval Base, the South Carolina Ports Authority recently completed enhancements and planned improvements that are creating additional capacity at existing terminals. Plus a new, twenty-five acre refrigerated container yard at the Wando Welch Terminal which is the port’s largest container facility – has centralized all temperature-controlled cargoes into one area while bringing on a ten percent increase in the facility’s capacity. A full twenty-five acres of shovel-ready property at the Wando Welch Terminal is available for future development as needed. A new, standard gate operating structure at all Charleston container facilities, went into effect in early 2011. This adjustment provided an approximate fifteen percent increase in port wide container space. The South Carolina Ports Authority also is enhancing its break bulk capabilities as well, and a twenty-three million dollar project to convert Columbus Street Terminal into a world-class vehicle and non-containerized cargo terminal has been completed (Charleston). As one can see the improvements are in the works and this will help the effectiveness of this port to provide above average customer service. When talking about the intermodal process one has to understand why and how the process works from the start to the finish. Starting at the warehouse that has the goods to ship out to the planning of shipping as far as where truck terminals, ports, and train depots are located. This is to assure that the easiest access to the cargo as possible. Knowing what type of equipment will used to load and unload trucks, ships, trains, and aircraft. Some of the most important things are the mode of transportation and even though there are four major types of transportation modes and they are container ships, railways, trucks, and airplanes with the first three being the most used as far as shipment of large quantity of parts or merchandise and airplanes being used to get items quickly. It is important to choose the correct type of transportation carrier for the company. It is important to learn a little bit about each mode of transportation the first one we will discuss is railways and they can pretty much transport about any type of cargo because the size of the trains, cost and the capability to be able stack containers and to piggyback rail cars and with flat cars (DeBoer, 1992). So this is one of the best ways to transport freight across country with a trucking company meeting the train at the depot and take the cargo the rest of the way to its destination, or if the cargo was going overseas as it final destination and there is not a rush of getting the cargo overseas the train can basically unload in the shipyard and then the cargo can go the rest of the by ship. When you are importing and exporting goods around the world, ships are an excellent way to get large quantities of a product to and from its locations. Containers are used in the shipping industry and are a major part in shipping high volume of items overseas. Trucking industry and the airline industry is probably two of the most convenient ways to do things from one place to another but you are limited in the load capacity and you are also going to pay more. But if you are in a hurry and need to ship a smaller quantity then these are better to use. Technology is probably one of the areas of intermodal transportation that has increased the most over the years and also helps the industry. Technology has improved from the equipment that is used to the computer systems that are used to help be more efficient as far as loading and unloading ships, trucks, and trains. Computer systems are also used in many other areas such as inventory and locations of containers. The overall process as a whole there has been many improvements at ports, terminals, and also depots and with the economy and the way people are trying to cut cost at all expenses and Increasing trucking costs and a looming capacity crunch in the motor carrier industry are leading to a relentless shift of freight from over-the-road trucking to intermodal rail, according to transportation experts who addressed The Journal of Commerce's Inland Port Logistics Conference Tuesday in Oak Brook, Ill (Mongelluzzo, 2012). With this being said the trend of switching to the intermodal rail is being driven to cut the prices of transportation costs. With transportation being with no doubt the largest component in the cost of shipping when importing and exporting merchandise from Europe and Asia to inland destinations, this is accounting for fifty percent of all the logistics cost. With that being said one can understand why companies are trying to cut the their cost and if the intermodal rail is way to cut cost then that is the way companies should go. Intermodal passenger transportation is a lot like the intermodal freight transportation business but there is a lot more precautions when it comes to passenger travel concerns and safety of its passenger’s. Discussing both aspects of this industry and the improvements that these ports, terminals, and depots are making such as: increasing land as the Port of Charleston has done, newer technology, and also newer and better equipment for instance the containers that are used . These are the major changes to make it more convenient for shipping and railway intermodal transportation.

References
Childress, V. W. (2005). Intermodal Transportation. Technology Teacher, 64(6), 15-18.
Konings, J.W., Priemus, H., &Nijkamp, P. (2008). The future of intermodal freight transport, operations, design and policy. Edward Elgar Pub.
DeBoer, David J. (1992). Piggyback and Containers: A History of Rail Intermodal on America's Steel Highway. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. ISBN 0-87095-108-4.
Wiegmans, B. W. (2010). The Freight Transport Portfolio: A New Way to Analyze Intermodal Freight Transport as Compared to Single-Mode Road Transport. Transportation Journal (American Society Of Transportation & Logistics Inc), 49(2), 44-52

Mongelluzzo, B. (2012, Sep 06). Shippers turning to intermodal rail to cut costs. Journal of Commerce, pp. n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1038150591?accountid=8289