Intermodal Transport Services

According to the "Toward a National Intermodal Transportation System" report of September 1994, the United States transportation system makes up 16.8% of the nation's gross national product. Intermodal transportation is a key factor in the transportation system.

Intermodal transportation is the interconnecting modes of transportation utilizing multiple modes such as railroad, ship and tractor-trailer. Product moves from mode to mode without reloading the shipping container . The ideal situation is for all transportation elements to meld into a seamless system for effective and flexible needs of shippers.

Transporting by rail puts the forces of vibration and shock at work. Vibration comes from the container oscillating and the shock occurs from any abrupt change in acceleration. Forces can happen from all sides of the container. To prevent the product inside the container from shifting sufficient room to move is required. Containers may be shipped either single or double stack. Well cars are used when hauling double stacked loads. The rail portion of the rail portion of intermodal transportation is to take product from the sea to a location more suitable for hauling by semi. For instance, if the load comes in from Australia to California by sea and the final destination is Wisconsin, then traveling by rail from California to Chicago is more cost effective and environmentally friendly then hauling by semi from California to Wisconsin.

Utilize floor blocking by nailing wood blocking to container floor. Use buffers such as disposable inflatable dunnage. Then tie the load together with specialized straps to guard against shock and vibration. Semi's purpose is the take the container to its final destination from either a rail or a sea location.

Purchasing products from overseas requires using a means of intermodal transportation in order to receive the product to its final destination. Purchasing product in Australia and shipping via air does get the product to the final destination sooner, however, this is not generally a cost effective method of shipping large quantity or heavy weight loads. Shipping via sea may also be more environmentally friendly. As with shipping by rail, multiple containers can be shipped via the container ship versus only a few loads, or even just one load, via air.

Air is generally not considered part of the intermodal transportation services. Large amounts of freight cannot be hauled by air. What the shipper and buyer care most about is the quality, cost, timeliness and safety of the trip.