Intermodal Transport Company: Features, Challenges, and Logistics Strategies

This article discusses the features, challenges, and logistics strategies of Intermodal Transport Company. It covers the role of container-based transportation, rail freight, road freight, air freight, and sea freight in the intermodal transportation process. It also provides recommendations and government interventions to resolve freight problems. The article is relevant to logistics and transportation courses in universities and colleges.

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INTERMODAL TRANSPORT COMPANY
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Introduction
The 21st century has seen a renewed focus on the intermodal freight transportation due to
technological and scientific innovation (Ambrosino & Sciomachen, 2017). The need for a
reliable and flexible response to the ever-changing customer requirements and hyper competition
in the supply chain in the global market thus challenges the logistics policies adopted by any
intermodal freight transport in pursuit of competing favorably around the globe.
Features of Intermodal Freight Transport
Intermodal Freight Transportation Company is made up of more than one chain
transportation modes that coordinate intermodal terminals in offering shipment services from one
place that is the origin to various destinations (Baykasoğlu & Suburban, 2016). The term
intermodal is inferred from the fact that it entails the transfer of freight from one mode to the
other. This mode might be by seaport or inland terminals such as a river port, airports, and rail
yards among many others.
Australia’s largest and efficient transport organization namely Australian Container
Freight services (ACFS) is a body that deals with a diverse range of multi-functional container
trailer. Its strategic location facilitates quick and efficient movement of goods and services across
the country aided by the Sydney and Melbourne facilities.
Container-based transportation plays a significate role in the intermodal transportation
process (Coliccio et al, 2017). Since the fundamental idea of intermodal transportation is that of
consolidating loads to ease the Long-haul transportation by the various modes. Freighting here
therefore extensively employs the use of containers over long distances by local truck pick up
and delivery operations to long-haul transportation by air or ocean shipping.

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Other reasons that accompany the extensive reliability of containers by intermodal
companies is due to its safety properties (Black et al, 2018). First, containers are made of steel or
aluminum metals that in essence help reduce loss, damage or deformation of the transported
contents. The recent development that has been embraced by the freight companies is the use of
electronic sealing and monitoring. This has reduced smuggling, terrorist and illegal immigration.
Furthermore, the twenty-foot equivalent unit standard structure of the containers enables easy
transfers from one mode to another and transport of various product dimensions. All these
advantages have led to decreased cost and offering better management of goods (Black et al,
2018).
Carries also contribute significantly to the freight transport companies. In the case of an
intermodal chain, carriers provide both customized service and consolidation services. The idea
of providing flexible reliable and highly dynamic environment for goods transportation is the key
factor that promotes the use of carries (Crainic et al, 2017). It is an alternative shipping service to
offer lower frequency services while maximizing the volume of demand. Thus at the end
providing efficient, cost-effective and favorably compete with other transport service providers
such as air transport.
Rail freight is estimated to be over 40,000 kilometers of a railway across Australia which
transports approximately 290.7 billion Ntks of bulk goods this is according to the Euroean
Journal of Operational Reasearch of 2017. Significant growth was experienced due to mining of
ore and other minerals done between Adelaide and Darwin terminals. The contribution of Qube
Logistics can’t go unnoticed since it promotes the supply of chain infrastructure investments in
port and intermodal companies as well as offering short-haul rail services. The Australian
government has also undertaken pre-construction activities that include a detailed corridor

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planning, land acquisition and even community consultation towards improving rail connectivity
in major cities and connecting rural business along with its corridors. The rail link connecting
Toowoomba Range to Port of Brisbane via acacia Ridge has significantly promoted low costs in
the supply chain.
Another important feature of an intermodal transport is the availability of a fully working
road freight. It is estimated that 95 percent of all freight movement is by road freight (Halim et
al, 2015). The adoption of heavy vehicle reforms such as the use of B-Triples and B-Doubles.
Such advancements reforms have open more door to door service for the realization of high
productivity. Even though there is productivity through the use of road fridge, fuel and costs
remain major issues for road freight.
Intermodal transport system maximizes the use of rail for shipment of goods from origin
to the consumer. Due to growing congestions on road networks has raised the need to invest in
the development of rails. Its advantage over road transport is its carrying capacity. Goods and
services are transported in bulkiness. It is also cost-competitive over long distances.
Air freight and sea freight also forms part of Australian Freight Company (Marin et al,
2015). Sea freight is significant in the movement of bulk goods such as ores and minerals from
an origin that is Australia to other external markets as well as transportation of imported goods
into the country and into various accessible cities. On the other hand, air freight deals with time
critical and high-value movement of goods that range from parcels, seafood passengers among
many more services and produ cts. With the continual growth of imports and reduced costs, the
demand for establishing better-equipped inland ports and well-connected terminals seems
unavoidable.

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The location of rail terminals is a basic logistic strategy in the development of any mode
of transport (Ran et al, 2017). For instance, intermodal rail terminals can be developed on any
suitable site putting into consideration the network connectivity of the area. Due to congestions
in the cities, outside city locations offer the best site for an establishment of rail terminal.
Challenges Facing Freight Transport
The major hindrance that affects intermodal companies is numerous. First is the issue of
infrastructure (Teye et al, 2017). There is an insufficiency in the length of road and holding
yards. These have caused much delays and inefficiency in the transfer of goods from one mode
to the other. The handling equipment’s that help in lifting and loading trains and trailers.
Another major setback on transportation is on fuel prices. The prices have high thus
increasing operational costs. The scenario is even worsened by the fact that there is confusion
among the regulatory agencies. Over time there has been the development of different modes of
transportation necessitating towards the establishment of regulating agencies. These agencies
have always been reported to be working individually rather than in unison thus determining and
regulation of prices becomes tedious and almost impossible for freight transport to work
efficiently and favorably in an ample environment.
Again there is weight and bulkiness problem ( Teye et al, 2017). The problem arises from
the non-stringent rules in the weight limitation rules. Other factors accompanied by with bulk
goods are accidents. Even though, there are many other agents to accidents which includes local
inadequate lane width, subgrade, turning capacity and substandard pavement thickness. Many
tunnels existing also lacks the double-stack technology hence hindering movement of tall loads.
Rail transport train transporting goods is always heavy and slow compared to passenger train

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with high speed makes sharing of rail line totally impossible. More so such it will create
technological problems calling for reconstruction or even construction of new effective railroads.
Current State and logistics strategies employed by Freight Transport.
According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, 2014 logistics
management is defined as supply chain management body that plans, controls and implementing
policies that ensure there is a controlled and effective forward and reverses the flow of goods and
services from the original point to that of the consumer. The logistics industry in Australia
employs 1.2 million people and is a major income generator to the Australian economy. In 2010
statistics it is recorded that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contributed directly by Freight
Company was $111.5 billion which further raised to $136 billion in 2013.
The logistics industry is the backbone of every country. It enables exporters to make
exorbitant profits by connecting them with key markets. Manufacturers and producers also
benefit from freight logistics by keeping their products cost-competitive against cheap imported
products. This ideology is fully supported by (Ghane & Vergara, 2016) Freight companies
following an efficient logistics will also promote healthy competition of price goods and
customer choice preference over a larger area.
According to (Black, 2018) transport tasks entitled to freight logistics industries is
estimated to be about 600 billion tone kilometers and is projected to increase by 80% by the year
2030. Acces to ports is now a critical prospect that ensures the projected growth of bulk imports
and exports. Productivity is further geared by efficient road and rail infrastructure since it readily
accommodates the freight growth. Over time freight network has increased its dominance in bulk

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movements which has consequently led to increasingly large shares of Australian goods in the
world export market.
Australia is large country though geographically isolated from major international
markets. In order to prevent itself from the economical cold of isolation, it, therefore, maximizes
its energy on logistics development strategies (Black, 2018). This has enabled Australia to
compete in international markets as well as a domestic market with imported goods. The strategy
model adopted in Australia thus serves the purpose of connecting point to point network but as
cities become congested better models will be embraced. Spoke network and large scale hub like
the one adopted in North America can also be applied in Australia.
Competitive framework as a strategy can also explain the potential influence of
intermodal transport on the unimodal transport system. The increased demands of intermodal
transport are due to the superior business model it employs. By becoming more sustainable than
the competing companies, on the other hand, will result in other efficient and innovative business
model. (Baykasoğlu et al, 2016)
Customer needs and interests are crucial aspects that affect either positively or negatively
on the business development depending on how their interests are taken into consideration.
According to ACFS port logistics report 2017, wellbeing and safety performance has been
highlighted as a basic aspect that will help provide an opportunity for Australian people to live a
healthy and positive lifestyle in pursuit of thriving economically as well as maintaining a high
profile reputation. This is a business strategy not only employed by the Australian transport
sector but also applicable to all business organizations.

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Another strategy by port authorities is that of shifting focus from the development of the
port area to that of advancing in supply chain based viewpoint. For a successful hinterland
strategy of a port authority is by extension of activities into hinterland rather than only
developing the port bearing in mind that there is increased congestion in the terminals.
Recommendations and Government Interventions in Resolving the Freight Problems
In recent years there has been the emergence of important strategies which affect the
movement of freight but the challenge experienced is lack of voice in echoing dynamic strategies
gained from research and logistics debates (Marin et al, 2015). The issues affecting freight hubs
are many and has overlapped over time. These include regulation problems, national and
government policies, insufficient funding by government and insatiable growing demands for
adequate investments in infrastructure. In spite, the many issues addressed there are probable
recommendations discussed below that is taken into consideration will help address
There are a number of recommendations that should be employed by freight companies.
First, it should strategize on gaining competitive advantage. This is a brilliant idea which aims at
achieving necessary dynamics to compete with other companies. For instance, the Australian
freight company should implement business models that other companies are not able to
duplicate. According to the International Journal of Economic Theories and Practices (2015),
the best rationale is the resource-based view which claims differential firm performance is
fundamentally due to firm heterogeneity and is based on rare capabilities, valuable, standard and
difficult to imitate.
Recommendations towards improving the intermodal terminal working efficiency are by
extending the working hours from the usual morning and evening hours (Slack, 2010). The

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pressure is felt by the pick-up and delivery customers since these are the arrival and departure
times of trains. These periods are always compressed than increasing demand for premium train
paths that can work on the specified times. Online booking systems will also help in reducing
such congestions.
The private sector is an active investor in the economic development of any country. The
Australian government should consider giving more chances for private companies to invest in
intermodal network developments. The private sector has the commercial willpower to maintain
and develop transport sector as a business. Consequently overlying on private sector does hinder
economic growth since government intervention and policies are rarely required.
To support volume growth at intermodal terminals there should be a reduced distance of
the pickup and delivery leg in order to reduce operating costs. Since competitive advantage is the
key idea, the rail-based supply chain should be integrated vertically and horizontally by the
service providers within the site. The integration improves the efficiency of coordinating the
transition within the rail supply chain. This process usually termed as co-location furthermore
reduces double-handling thus reducing operations costs.
Another recommendation is on advancement in technology. In this case, a closer
understanding will be by looking at Intelligent Transport Systems for Commercial Vehicle
Operations (ITS/CVO). This technology is used in North America. (Slack, 2010) explains that
this is system regulates and controls the movement of goods from point of origin to the various
destinations. CVO also oversees the movement of people and other necessary commercial
operations. Government policies concerning electronic verification and clearance should also be
strengthened. Over a long period of time system errors from the database has lessened the
efficiency in the determination of liability and safety standards of tracks operating in highways.

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Getting funds from the government will promote innovations of many ITS-CVO and other safety
requirements.
Investing in the development of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) will not only provide
better management and control of resources but also provide freight and fleet management. The
system is also well recommended for implementation since it allows efficient flow of
information and automatic identification of transport tracts and shipments thus leading to
reduced cost operation, flexibility, time-saving and service responsiveness this well supported by
(Ran et al, 2017)
In the case of congestions in cities and urban centers, city logistics process is the solution.
The process considers many factors affecting urban freight transportation system among which
includes, economical constraints, energy impacts, social and environmental issues. City logistics
will encourage intermodal terminal transfers through the development of freight villages. Freight
villages are operational in countries like Switzerland and Germany. The concept argues that the
Freight companies should construct this village in under-developed locations that are close to
urban centers or cities. Implementing this concept will provide a relevant solution to the current
traffic congestion, pollution and also accessibility problems.
City logistics also advocates for the development of partnerships among the key role
players in the transport sector. According to (Colicchia et al, 2017), partnerships goes hand in
hand with the development of better alternative ways of cooperation that are involved in the
urban transportation process. This, in essence, will generate a significant reduction in resources
used such as a number of tracks and also time conserved due to cooperation.

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Freight transport security is another major aspect that should be considered for efficiency
and global economic growth. The government initiatives here comes in handy in order to
establish workable security policies such as custom services and enforcement strategies and
procedures that will ensure the secure flow of goods and services in the region. Since freight
services rely more on containers many efforts are required to develop or introduce technological
models and algorithms that provide solutions on the same. Pre-screening and security checks
should always be performed.
In conclusion, Australian Logistics Council has played a significant role in improving
efficiency, productivity, and safety of the transport commodities (Colicchia et al, 2017).
Government policymakers and logistics providers are therefore challenged to join efforts and
work in unison to realize sustainable freight advancement. It is also a clear fact that a substantial
part of Australia’s economy exists due to its ability and utilization of logistics services in
performing its trading activities.

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References
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for increasing the rail split modality in multimodal freight networks. In Service Operations and
Logistics, and Informatics (SOLI), 2017 IEEE International Conference on (pp. 181-186). IEEE.
Baykasoğlu, A. and Suburban, K., 2016. A multi-objective sustainable load planning
model for intermodal transportation networks with a real-life application. Transportation
Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 95, pp.207-247.
Black, J., Roso, V., Marušić, E. and Brnjac, N., 2018. Issues in Dry Port Location and
Implementation in Metropolitan Areas: The Case of Sydney, Australia. Transactions on
maritime science, 7(01), pp.41-50.
Colicchio, C., Corazza, A. and Dallari, F., 2017. Lean and green supply chain
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Crainic, T.G., Perboli, G. and Rosano, M., 2017. Simulation of intermodal freight
transportation systems: a taxonomy. European Journal of Operational Research.

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Ghane-Ezabadi, M. and Vergara, H.A., 2016. Decomposition approach for integrated
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