Understanding Intermodal Transportation: ISO Containers, Swap Bodies, Piggyback, and Rolling Roads in Europe

INTERMODAL TRANSPORT
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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Discussion......................................................................................................................2
Purpose of intermodal transportation.........................................................................2
Characteristics of ISO containers...............................................................................3
Characteristics of swap bodies...................................................................................4
Characteristics of piggyback transportation...............................................................5
Characteristics of rolling roads..................................................................................7
Overview of the intermodal transport in Europe........................................................8
European Union.....................................................................................................8
Action plan for developing European intermodal activity.........................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................................11
Reference......................................................................................................................12

Introduction
This report aims to discuss the aspects of the intermodal transport. A synopsis of
common requirement of the transport of intermodal nature along with the summary of the
crucial features of every intermodal kinds such as ISO containers, swap bodies, rolling road
and the piggyback is briefly stated in this report. A concise discussion of the prevailing
intermodal market in European Union that includes the discussion of the crucial statistics that
are related to the trends in the activity is briefly discussed in this report. An action plan for
short-term and the long term for developing the European intermodal activity is provided in
this report.
Discussion
Purpose of intermodal transportation
For the companies who commonly deal with the shipments for significant distances,
the transportation of the products using truck and ship or train, instead of the transportation
using road, the intermodal transportation could add significant value to the complete supply
chain and then drive the immense savings in the spending of the transportation (Ruan et al.
2016). The top 3 purpose for utilising the intermodal transportation are the lowering of the
costs, the consistency in capacity and the enhancing of the quality of service. The companies
mainly aim to lower the costs of the transportation and make extra saving in their company
budget. The companies prefer the rail and the truck providers for saving significantly on the
fuel. The trains utilise lower diesel than the trucks and factually any train could move upto
one ton of the freight at lower fuel consumption. The companies have to make huge expense
in the long hauling trucking but the trains helps in the easing of the impact. The companies
who take the initiative to execute the reduction of the carbon emission in the environment and
change into the environmentally friendly approach for the transportation of goods (Bruns et

al. 2014). One more feature of this intermodal transportation that is significantly money
saving for the companies is the ability of shipping using the containers. In the containers,
there is no requirement of individual handling of the containers (Xu, Cheng and Huang
2015). It reduces the cost of transportation as immensely lower effort is needed for moving
any shipment from any truck to any train or any ship or any condition. The containers would
fit easily in any mode and it could be switched easily that makes carriers more efficiently.
The intermodal transportation specifically the rail and truck offers the reliable capacity. It has
been observed that there is significantly lower competition for securing the freight for the
intermodal transport that lowers the cost extensively but increasingly it offers the capacity in
the situation and the time when it is most required. With driver shortage and the increase in
the activity of shipping, the intermodal transport is immensely appealing to the shippers
(Resat and Turkay 2015). Instead of paying the significantly huge rates for guaranteeing the
capacity or even compromising for accommodating the carriers, the companies could ship
using the intermodal any time at any reasonable price.
Characteristics of ISO containers
The intermodal containers or the ISO containers are utilised for intermodal transport
of the freight. The manufacturing of the containers is done as per the specification from
International Organisation for the Standardisation and these containers are most suitable for
several methods of transportation like the rail, ship or truck (Assadipour, Ke and Verma
2015). The regulations could define any shipping container, which fulfil the requirements of
the size, durability and the strength. The basis for the regulations is the guaranteeing that
these containers could withstand the extreme environments that are endured while
transportation and it possess the required structural integrity that is needed for being to be
able to be lifted by the cranes or any other heavy transport (Sahin et al. 2014). Some of the
advantages of using the ISO containers are: