Intermodal Transportation free essay sample

Although transportation through air is possible the price is costly. Intermodal transportation lowers down a lot of price by using each mode on the portion of the trip to which it is best suited. Example a truck moves an empty container to the shipper. The shipper loads the container with goods. The truck transports the loaded container to port. At the port, the container is loaded onto the steamship, which is forwarded to the port of destination. The container is driven to the warehouse of the receiver shortly after being ischarged at the port of destination Intermodal transportation as known today first gained currency in the 1960s when the use of trailer sized containers began transforming the way freight is packed and loaded on trucks and ships. Cargoes had of course been transferred through different type of modes long before the introduction of modern containers. Each of the transportation modes has gone through technological evolution and has functioned separately under a moda lly based regulatory structure for most of the 20th century. Other benefits of intermodal transportation are beyond the commercial interests of the involved companies. A properly organized system of intermodal transportation is environment friendly, conserves natural resources, reduces the social problems of trucking industry employees, and provides economy with services that allow its growth. Logistics and intermodal services play important roles in transportation. Logistics refers to a companys program for efficiently delivering goods to the customer. Intermodal pertains to the use of more than one type of transportation to ship the goods. It takes specialized skills, education and experience to work in the various logistics and intermodal transportation careers such as a shipping supervisor oversees the shipping department and its processes and procedures. A logistics systems coordinator oversees a staff of forklift drivers and organizes raw materials and goods to be shipped from one plant to another. A transportation analyst strives to improve business processes and reduce costs by analysing existing transportation and operations practices. A customer service associate in the logistics area works with customers to solve transportation-related problems. The advantage of intermodal freight transportation gives you flexibility with how you want to move your freight. Additionally, you have the opportunity to be creative in finding the most efficient way to move your freight. Generally, this process involves at least two modes of transportation. The more efficiently you plan, the more money you will save. Disadvantages are that Intermodal freight transportation may be costly depending on the number of modes of transportation. Some downfalls to intermodal freight transportation involve the high costs that are associated with moving freight by using several types of modes of transportation. Lack of communication and idle time of equipment will increase transportation costs. Similarly, equipment that moves from one location to another empty also adds to the costs. Containerization In 1995 Malcom P. McLean, a trucking entrepreneur from North Carolina, USA, was the man who came up with the idea of transporting an entire truck with their cargo still inside. He got the idea of moving the freight in a simpler and quicker way by lifting the container from a vehicle directly onto the ship without having the cargo unload. These ideas were vastly improved through â€Å"Intermodalism†. The freight could be moved with the same container with minimum interruption and different transport modes during its journey. Containers where easily moved from ships to trains and trucks which made it easier for those who were shipping cargos in bulk. This has also reduced the number of workers involved in handling and carriage. This idea simplified the logistic process and the idea led to a revolution in cargo transportation and international trade over the next 56 years. Containers are the generic carriers of goods which can be loaded onto any vehicle or type or transport, such as an ocean cargo ship or a trailer tractor and are the standard option when transporting goods or material over longer distances. Rail, Trucking and shipping (air and sea) transportation is now designed to be able to carry a variety of containers all over the world, and the containers themselves have been standardized in terms of capacity, material and size for ease of use and handling all over the world. This standardization of containers also helps customs officials inspect and clear goods for shipment. The standard sizes of containers 20 foot (6. 09 m), 40 foot (12. 18 m) , 45 foot (13. 7 m), 48 foot (14. 6 m), and 53 foot (16. 15 m). But the most important and common once is the 20-foot container, referred to as a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) became the industry standard reference so now cargo volume and vessel capacity are commonly measured in TEU. The 40-foot length container literally 2 TEU became known as the Forty-foot Equivalent Unit (FEU) and is the most frequently used container today . Special containers include open end, open side, open top, half-height, flat rack, refrigerated (known as reefer), liquid bulk (tank), and modular all built to same exterior lengths and widths as the standard dry cargo containers. Open tops are used for easy loading of cargo such as logs, machinery odd sized goods. Flat racks can be used for boats, vehicles, machinery or industrial equipment. Open sides may be used for vegetables such as onions and potatoes. Tank containers transport many types of liquids such as chemicals, wine and vegetable oil. Containerization has made so much of improvement such as freights can be manipulated anywhere in the world, discarded containers can be reused, low transport costs; 20 times less than bulk transport, port turnaround times reduced from 3 weeks to about 24 hours, simpler and less expensive packaging, stacking capacity on ships, trains (double stacking) and on the ground, can only be opened at the origin, at customs and at the destination and reduced spoilage and losses (theft). Reference http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Intermodal_freight_transport#History http://web. vu. union. edu/~perknerr/download/intermodal_uc. pdf http://onlinepubs. trb. org/onlinepubs/millennium/00061. pdf http://www. worldshipping. org/about-the-industry/history-of-containerization http://www. worldshipping. org/about-the-industry/containers