Analyzing Freight Transport Efficiency

This assignment delves into the complexities of modern freight transportation. Students will analyze various academic sources examining topics like freight analysis zones, multimodal transport, port connectivity, and intermodal network design. The focus is on understanding the efficiency of freight transport systems, the influence of technology (ICT), and the impact of infrastructure investment. Case studies and real-world examples are likely to be incorporated in the analysis.

Running head: LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Abstract
The following paper deals with the various aspects of the freight transport industry. The
intermodal companies deal in with the freight transport. An organization has been chosen in
regards to this paper and all the operations of this organization have been described. The nature
of the organization and the freight analysis of this organization has been done properly. Other
than that, a brief background has been given for this organization. The logistics and supply chain
management of this organization has been provided as well. This will help to understand what
really the needs are for the betterment of the organization. The important challenges and issues
have been identified. The proper recommendations have been made in this context as well.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Nature of Intermodal companies.....................................................................................................3
Overview of the chosen organization..............................................................................................4
Supply chain management of the organization................................................................................6
Freight analysis by intermodal companies......................................................................................7
Freight movement........................................................................................................................7
Knowledge and skills in the new operational procedures...........................................................8
Challenges and issues in current times............................................................................................8
Smart transport solutions with sustainability...............................................................................9
Inability to provide proper logistics support................................................................................9
Higher expectations on the levels of service...............................................................................9
The responsibility of the government..............................................................................................9
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Logistics and supply chain management is one of the most important things in the
modern operations of the transport companies. It has become an essential part of the modern
freight transport companies as well. The main objective of these companies is to transport
various things through ships and exporting those things to other countries as well as importing.
The goods are transported from one place to another. This is why the things have to be on time.
There are several modes of transport like air, seas, cable, space and pipelines. This helps the
trade between several kinds of people. This sets up the civilization in different locations and
countries. If the companies make the transport properly, this will in turn be effective for the
countries and cities as well. The intermodal companies take the pioneering role in these
situations. This is why they have to set up their logistics and supply chain network strongly so
that they can get success in their objectives. The cargo ships are used for the transport of the
goods in this purpose. This helps the goods for faster transportation by all the means. However,
in recent times, some problems and challenges have arisen that have to be tackled properly
indeed. The logistics and supply chain has posed some problems in this regard. It is very
important to overcome these issues for the smooth flow of the goods to their destinations.
Nature of Intermodal companies
As transportation by seas goes through several processes, it is the responsibility of the
intermodal companies to carry out several processes before they can export these things to the
other countries and locations (Liu et al. 2014). The intermodal companies take care of all the
things in the modern import and export business. Freight transportation has gained a huge
importance in the modern times as a part of the transportation. There have been some important
things that are causing problems in the modern transportation system all over the world. Some of

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them are shortage of drivers, increase in demand of the exported goods, increase of the prices of
the fuel (Liu et al. 2014). The governments in various countries have been giving an oversight on
these things. All these things are important measures in various ways like the loading of the
goods, pricing of the fuel and other things and others.
All the people are looking for the solutions that could be effective in the better supply
chain of the transportation (Seuring and Goldbach 2013). The freight transport or intermodal
transport system has provided one stop solution for that only. The global economic expansion
has become one of the most specific phenomenon in the modern society. It has become quite
clear that the shippers should indulge in a clearer approach towards integrated shipping. The
demands of the consumers are increasing so the service providers will have to increase their
services as well. They have to provide their services faster to the consumers and the supply chain
of the intermodal companies are taking a huge step in this (Seuring and Goldbach 2013). There
are some advantages of operating in an intermodal company as well. This helps the companies to
take the most advantages of the lower pricing rates, prices of the goods get flexible, the matter of
loading and unloading the goods will be made flexible as well (Bhattacharya et al. 2014). The
handling costs can be reduced in this context as well. The logistics management of the
intermodal companies will provide the reliability and safety advantages to the consumers.
Overview of the chosen organization
The organization that has been chosen to discuss this paper is the Australian freight
transport company Australian Container Freight Services (ACFS) (Auscfs.com 2018). This
organization works in New South Wales. This company was founded in the year 2005 with the
objective to provide the best services to the consumers. The parent organization of this company

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is Asciano Limited. They provide the freight services in cities like Melbourne, Sydney and
Brisbane. Some of the services that this company provides are the stuffing and de-stuffing of the
goods in the ports (Saeed 2013). They also deal in container handling and storage. Other services
that they provide are in the cross docking, fill container load (FCL) and less container load
(LCL) storage, FCL and LCL transport, free and bond storage facilities, consultancies that look
after the cargo handling and supply chain implementation services (Auscfs.com 2018). They also
provide the unpacking of the containers, warehouse package, cross decking and stock taking.
This organization is located in the Port Botany in New South Wales (Allen, Browne and Cherrett
2012.). They have focused on the supply chain management that would enable them to get rid of
all the challenges (Saeed 2013).
They will look to provide the best services to their consumers and in a timely manner
indeed. This will probably be helpful for the organizations in a big way. This will increase their
reputation in the current market as well. ACFS is considered to be the largest Container Logistics
operating team in the entire Australia (Auscfs.com 2018). At the beginning stage of the
company, their aim was to be the most popular transport, warehousing and freight logistics
companies. They have always opted for building a very strong customer base that includes the
largest blue chip exporters and importers (Solomon 2014). The total number of employees in
their organization is more than 500. The container freight station activities that are taking place
in this context are largely inspired by the proper knowledge and experience in the warehousing,
transport and freight sectors. They have also expanded their services to Fremantle in the year
2015 (Nichols, Street and Cereola 2012).

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Supply chain management of the organization
The facilities that they provide are located in the port areas as a part of their extensive
strategy (Christopher 2016). This will make the work faster and be effective in case of all the
consumers. The container freight logistic service they provide to the customers is always in line
with the needs of the customers and providing them the best services indeed.
The company ACFS always provides the best world class services to their clients every
time. They provide such efficient services by implementing their Warehouse Management
System (WMS). The operational expectations of the consumers are met by the managers in the
organization (Harris, Wang and Wang 2015). They use the technology in its full swing and look
to utilize the advantages of the technological advancement in its full measure. The inventory
control system is quite intuitive in various means. They have extended their own warehouse and
managed their stocks properly in order to engage their clients. They have always created a proper
customer link that has helped them to be able to plan all the things (Christopher 2016). They will
be able to manage all the problems minutely and more accurately that will help them to get the
best results. ACFS has created a special 3PL division that is operated by them as a specialty fleet
that ranges in the capacity of the drop decks and Maxi Liners. This can carry 68 Pallets per load.
These things are very much important as ot maximizes the capacity and weight of the goods.
This will minimize their costs per load in an effective manner (Harris, Wang and Wang 2015)
This will be very much important to make maximum productivity by using minimum costs.
These things are operated in the best ways by recruiting the best trained employees and training
them for the best outcomes in favor of ACFS. Productivity is the primary focus and they put the
most pressure on the efficiency of the employees (Melo, Graham and Brage-Ardao 2013). They
want to improve the operational brilliance in the 3PL division of ACFS. This is why they have

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aimed to put more focus on the advancement of fleet management, increasing the productivity
and efficiency.
Intermodal freight transport has been one of the major inventions in the modern era.
There are some ways in which the drivers of intermodal companies will look to enhance their
business operations (Li, Negenborn and De Schutter 2015). These business operations are done
by the ACFS as well. They use to do these things in the perfect manner as they carry out some
important things in this context. Some of the features in their business operations are:-
Freight analysis by intermodal companies
This is a very important analysis that has to be done in order to gather an in depth
knowledge for the best intermodal analysis. This analysis is not related to the price of the
commodities like fuel and other things (Harris et al. 2012). They have looked to frame the
different things like dock operations and requirements of equipments at the origin and different
destinations. They have made a tally with all the details of the company and assessed whether it
will be applicable for them at all. It is a definite thing that all the things will not have proper
solution to the lanes of the intermodal organizations (Jiang et al. 2015). At this stage, a blueprint
should be developed in order to make an outline for the intermodal providers to the intermodal
lanes of the organizations. ACFS will look to utilize all its resources to focus on the betterment
of the organization.
Freight movement
Another important scenario in the freight analysis is the freight movement. It has been
regarded as one of the most important transportation systems in the entire world (Jiangping,
Zhou and Shuai 2012). This is why ACFS has been trying to utilize the necessary resources that

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are present there. One of the main resources that is very much consistent in the improvement of
the technology and its advancement. The intermodal companies must be able to apply the
different technological tools in order to improve the operations. The companies must execute
their planning properly so that they can use the resources properly. The organizations must focus
on the development of the infrastructure. Companies must be able to incorporate all the
technological tools in their operating versions and connect with their clients through the social
media. The technology should be used in such a way that it should be easier to use the machines
and deliver the products to the clients in a faster way. This will be helpful for the companies as
well. ACFS has been trying to overcome all the odds so they can deliver the best services to their
clients.
Knowledge and skills in the new operational procedures
The new operational procedures will be developed by ACFS to implement the various
new things in order to improve its services. The new members who will be recruited in the
organizations will need to improve their skills and their managerial knowledge as well. ACFS
needs to optimize all the transport options. There are many managerial issues in the higher
authorities. These issues will have to be sorted out in order to mitigate all the problems.
Challenges and issues in current times
There have been some challenges and issues that have surrounded in the freight transport
industry. The intermodal companies have been trying their best to overcome the problems. All
the clients and customers are looking for the environment friendly solutions for the transport
industry. Some of the issues and challenges that ACFS is facing can be discussed in the
following section.

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Smart transport solutions with sustainability
The customers always look for the smart solutions in the transport industry. They want to
get the best services in the environment friendly ways. The factor of sustainability is not given
that much importance in this scenario (Ferrari 2014). A famous intermodal freight transport
company like ACFS has been suffering from these problems as well. If the companies do not
provide the smart solutions to these challenges, they will probably be facing more challenges in
the future as well (Ferrari 2014).
Inability to provide proper logistics support
It is very important for ACFS to provide the proper logistics support to their customers.
This helps to provide the best services and the products can reach to the customers on time very
effectively (Allen, Browne and Cherrett 2012). If this does not happen, the trust factor on the
services of the company will be hampered. ACFS will be looking to sustain the trust of the
customers to a great deal indeed.
Higher expectations on the levels of service
The end users of the services if this industry always looks for the best services and they
always expect the best services from the service providers of ACFS. The customers always look
for the more integrated services in the IT systems from the ACFS authority. The supply chain
has become more complex and dynamic. This is why the service providers will have to put in
some extra effort indeed.
The responsibility of the government
The NSW government has some responsibilities as well to improve the services provided
by the ACFS. The government officials have always delivered the best possible support from

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their end. They need to include more technologically enabled services from their end so that the
customers of ACFS can be benefitted in a larger number. The government should also provide
some important guidelines as they are one of the most influential stakeholders in the business
operations (Taniguchi et al. 2014). They should not introduce some taxation rules that might
harm the operations of the industry. Neither should they make new policies that are very much
harmful for ACFS. They should always provide as the best supporting system to the ACFS. The
NSW government should provide ACFS with all the relevant import and export guidelines and
allow them with the foreign levies indeed. They should also help to provide the organization with
the proper warehousing arrangements for the loading and unloading of the loads (Taniguchi et al.
2014).
Recommendations
 ACFS must improve their technology based systems. This will be very effective to make
the things faster and communicate with all the clients very smoothly.
 They should make ways for better warehousing so they can ship their products in a
natural and faster method.
 They should try to provide their best efforts to deliver the goods within the fixed time.
 They should connect with their clients through social media and know about their likes
and dislikes (Tuten and Solomon 2017).
 They should make this transport mode safe for the stakeholders with whom they will be
doing their business.
 The organization should look to implement all the necessary strategies in their operations
so it will look to be more comprehensive and meet all the demands of the clients (Hitt,
Ireland and Hoskisson 2012).

11LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Conclusion
This paper can be concluded by saying that intermodal companies have been trying their
best to get over all the problems that have been very much intrinsic in their operations. The
logistics and supply chain management has been very effective in the mix of all the things of the
chosen organization ACFS. This has been one of the most important organizations in the world
regarding the transport industry. The freight transport industry has been the cause of concern in
many of the business operations. It is mainly needed in the business operations that deal with the
import and export. The chosen organization is ACFS that is situated in Australia. They also need
the proper support from the NSW Government and the government should always introduce
some necessary policies that should be useful in the operations of ACFS. The quality issues will
have to be mitigated along with the other issues. This will be elemental for the improvement in
all the sections of ACFS.

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