Assignment on Intermodal Freight Transport

Running head: INTERMODAL FREIGHT TRANSPORT
INTERMODAL FREIGHT TRANSPORT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1INTERMODAL FREIGHT TRANSPORT
Intermodal freight transport refers to the transportation of freight in an intermodal
container, using a number of different transportation methods. The North American freight
transportation industry has been set through the establishment of the national railways and land
bridges (Assadipour, Ke & Verma, 2015). This infrastructure is being further expanded by active
promotion and help of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Globalisation is
also helping this industry to gain significant momentum. Exploiting the comparative advantage,
mostly in sectors of labour, information technology, telecommunication, FDI and other areas
have helped North America to greatly improve their freight systems. Substantial capital
investments have happened in this sector, which tremendously boosted the freight transportation
system of the continent (Roso et al., 2015). Even though the capital investments have increased
and infrastructure has been helped, the obvious problem remains: most of the rail operators have
reached the limit in terms of network size, land limit has been reached in most of the North
American area, most notably in the United States. To overcome this problem, a more integrated
system and intermodal operations are being established across the rail networks, to ensure a
smoother operational outcome. Bilateral, and even trilateral, arrangements are being adopted
between rail companies and shipping organisations to improve the intermodal interface. Major
gateways, intersections of different rail networks and hinterlands are given the most priorities.
The establishment of NAFTA brought about cross-border services, which massively
helped the freight transport in North America (Roso et al., 2015). If this is to be sustained, then
intermodal operations have to be given more priority and every possible tool has to be used to
ensure a smooth continuality of the transport system.

2INTERMODAL FREIGHT TRANSPORT
References
Assadipour, G., Ke, G. Y., & Verma, M. (2015). Planning and managing intermodal transportation of
hazardous materials with capacity selection and congestion. Transportation Research Part E:
Logistics and Transportation Review, 76, 45-57.
Roso, V., Russell, D., Ruamsook, K., & Stefansson, G. (2015). Seaport-inland port dyad dynamics: an
investigation of service provisions and intermodal transportation linkages. World Review of
Intermodal Transportation Research, 5(3), 263-280.