Transportation plays a critical role in any economy. The growth of any nation’s economy and the eventual reduction in poverty depends highly on the state of transportation infrastructure (Banerjee et al., 2020). Advancements in technology have played a key role in streamlining transportation and communication systems to cope with surging global demands. Governments worldwide and private institutions have developed and implemented many strategies focusing on reducing transportation challenges, such as traffic congestion, environmental impacts, and, most importantly, the cost of transportation (Agatz et al., 2021). The spread and growth of industrialization have also had their fair share of impacts and challenges on the current global transportation system. Globalization has also led to shifts in transportation towards processes that allow a seamless flow of goods. The need to move goods across long distances led to the growth of intermodal transportation. This research paper explores the dynamics of intermodal transportation, its impact, and environmental considerations, focusing on sea transportation.
Historical Background
Intermodal transport is the transportation of goods or cargo using more than one mode of transportation, including sea, rail, road, and air (Pencheva et al., 2022). Multimodal transportation often does not involve physically handling the transported cargo. This transportation mode is often recommended because of its effectiveness in risk reduction, cargo security, and enhanced portability. It also enhances transportation speed because goods are not offloaded, reloaded, or repacked to the change from one transportation mode to another.
In the same way, modes of transportation have evolved, whereby there are now more advanced airplanes and trains. Intermodal containers have also changed and evolved significantly, including in size and materials used. The evolution journey has moved from wooden coal containers used in the 1830s on railways. Over time, iron containers used mainly for transporting coal over ships emerged. Wooden containers then emerged during World War I for transporting people and luggage. Covered containers were introduced in the 19th century and used to transport furniture between railway and road (Hlali & Hammami, 2019).
The growth of intermodal transportation created a need for standardization. In the 1920s, the UK adopted a railway clearing house as the first standardization, which allowed cargo transportation on standard intermodal containers (Young, 2021). However, the UK standardization was not used outside of the UK for lack of strength. The US introduced container standardization for the military in the mid-19th century, which the International Organization for Standardization used as the standard measure for two years (Haralambides, 2019). Since then, standardization has significantly improved, and container sizes increased and received ISO certification. Cargo transportation has also become cheaper. Today, containers are mainly made of steel (Bertolini & Guardigli, 2020). This has enhanced their portability because they can be stacked over each other and can be carried by almost every transportation mode. The emergence of steel containers contributed significantly to the growth of sea transport. Thousands of cargo containers can now be packed into large cargo ships, supporting transporting thousands of tons of cargo and global commerce.
Modes of Transportation
Intermodal transportation begins even before shipping starts. Transportation modes comprise the transport modes that support freight and passengers’ mobility. These assets are used in mobile transport and are classified into air, land, and water (Pencheva et al., 2022). Transport modes carry cargo or passengers, but most of these modes can combine the two. For example, a passenger plane also carries limited cargo or luggage. According to Rodrigue (2017), transportation modes are characterized by commercial, operational, or commercial characteristics that define the target markets and economies of scale. Operational factors include the context of operation, such as the safety conditions, speed limits, and hours of operation. Ownership of transport modes and the demand for transport are among the dominant characteristics because of the significant role that transportation modes play in supporting economic activities and generating a country’s income.
According to Neumann (2021), maritime or water transportation has been considered one of the most effective modes of bulk cargo transportation over long distances. The main routes in maritime transportation include seas, coasts, oceans, rivers, and channels. However, the circulation often occurs in designated spaces, particularly the North Pacific and North Atlantic. Tremendous efforts have been made over the years to enhance maritime circulation by reducing discontinuities. However, such efforts are costly. Sea transportation, despite its significant benefits and capacity, has high terminal costs, and building and maintaining proper infrastructure at ports is capital-intensive. Nevertheless, Hlali and Hammami (2019) hold that containerization has made sea transportation the backbone of globalization, facilitating the movement of a wide range of goods.
Containerization
Containerization has been cited as the most critical milestone in the evolution of intermodal transport (Gharehgozli et al., 2020). Intermodal transportation would not have reached today’s levels without the standardization of containers. Standardization led to mass production of containers, facilitating the flow of goods from one port to another. Apart from size standardization, the containers must also bear certain identification markings that help track shipments across the supply chain. In 2020, more than 1.8 billion metric tons of cargo were delivered wholly or partially on a container (Krmek et al., 2022). The statistic is a demonstration of the significant impact of containerization to global commerce and global economic growth.
Economic and Environmental Impacts
Intermodal transportation has been an excellent cargo solution in the journey towards enhancing efficiency in transportation. Intermodal transportation provides advantages related to sustainability, cost, safety, and capacity, making it an attractive option for shippers (Neumann, 2021). The ability to combine sea, rail, and other transportation modes offers cost saving benefits particularly along long routes. Transporting freight by cargo over long distances can save up to forty percent compared to other modes (Pencheva et al., 2022). Cost savings are attributed to lower fuel costs associated with rail transport. Additionally, the costs of handling cargo drops significantly because goods on transit remain in the same container until their destination. Less handling of goods leads to reduced cost of handling. Furthermore, intermodal transportation by sea and rail increases cost efficiency by reducing the cost per ton.
Another economic benefit of intermodal transportation is that it reduces highway congestion. Hundreds of containers are transported by railways, which would otherwise be transported by road (Krmek et al., 2022). The seas also take thousands of containers from the road. This reduces highway congestion. This frees our highways for other essential transportation and reduces the maintenance cost. The cost savings can be directed to other economic functions to support the growth of an economy.
Cross Border Shipping
The level of trade activities in a country have significant impact of the country’s economic growth and expansion. Robust trading activities require reliable and efficient modes of transportation. It also requires the infrastructure to support mass movement of goods within and across borders. Intermodal transportation facilitates cross border shipping (Krmek et al., 2022). This opens up a country to international trade. This translates to inflow of imports and outflow of exports stirring economic growth and expansion. Furthermore, intermodal transportation offers a safer and smoother method of transporting cargo across borders.
While intermodal transportation offers numerous logistical and economic benefits, it also presents significant environmental challenges. Emissions from ships, trucks, and trains contribute to air pollution (Walker et al., 2019). These emissions also contribute to climate change. Activities such as oil spills are a threat to marine habitat. Additionally, delicate ecosystems can be disrupted by port expansion activities and dredging of waterways. Such activities lead to loss of diversity and degradation of habitat. These environmental concerns underscore the urgent for proactive measures to mitigate potential negative impacts of intermodal sea transportation. However, several positive steps have been taken to address the concerns. These include adoption of cleaner fuels and technologies, such as energy efficient engines. Additionally, stricter regulations and enforcement measures regarding waste disposal and pollution can help to minimize the environmental footprint of intermodal transportation activities.
Conclusion
Transportation plays a central role in facilitating and promoting commerce. Particularly, intermodal transportation has evolved significantly. It facilitates movement of cargo using different modes of transport with little or no repacking or offloading of goods. Intermodal transportation has significantly been influenced by containerization. The benefits range from enhanced cargo security to better cross-border shipping. Throughout this paper, we have demonstrated the evolution of intermodal transportation, the economic benefits, and the associated environmental challenges.
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