Containers on a Train

Lecture objectives

What is intermodal?
Why use different modes together?
What makes it work?

Lecture Summary

What is intermodal?
Most products have the ability to trade time versus cost. As a basic rule - if the
cargo comes in full containers then
it is a good candidate for intermodal. The key to intermodal is the use of
containers and its seamless transfer from
one mode to another. Think about it this way – if we can easily move freight from
one truck to another then we can
simply substitute another mode of transportation that is more efficient on that
part of the lane - the cargo in the
container stays untouched.

Advantages:

On long distances rail transportation has a significant advantage over truck in

terms of fuel efficiency
– which translates into a large cost advantage.
On long distances (over 500 miles) rail is not much slower than truck
Accessibility: by combining the advantages of rail and truck, the freight can reach
any spot a regular truck could reach