Evolution of Intermodal Transportation

Over time, transportation has shown to have an incredible impact on the United States. It has revealed to bring about economic and social changes in various ways. In the late eighteenth century ancient methods of traveling were still in use in America and it was often very slow. Americans were aware that if transportation advancement occurred, it would potentially increase foreign trade, increase land values as well as strengthen the American economy. In the mid 1800s it has been determined that transportation advancement has a drastic effect on our

The intent of this analysis is to compare and contrast the cost structures for rail, motor carriers and air modes of transportation. Implicit in this analysis is the rapid adoption of intermodal transportation which is often optimized to specific logistics and supply chain objectives (Jennings, Holcomb, 1996).

According to market players in the maritime transport, inland logistics are one of the most significant segments still enhancing economic signals in order to add value and enhance profitability. Bundling is regarded as one of the most probable solutions on ways to enhance the intermodal transport and could also improve competitiveness. As a result, the concept or process enables resolving suitable intermodal conditions since it can be utilized in situations where container flows are not economically adequate to meet the needs of a direct service.

Intermodal. Intermodal is the form of moving freight utilizing multiple modes of transportation. One of the most common is rail and truck. Typically, a trucking company will pick up a trailer or a container at a customer’s facility, take the product to a railroad intermodal yard to normally be shipped several hundred miles away (although shorter hauls are becoming more common) to arrive at another railroad intermodal yard to be unloaded and picked up by a trucking company to take the goods to the final destination. The nation’s railroads have focused on this segment of business in the last several years due to a sharp decline in hauling coal. Coal has always been one of CSX’s main sources of revenue. “Railroads wrung efficiencies out of their costs, and discovered that if you make even a little money on a lot of volume, you're soon talking big bucks.” (Frailey, 2011, p. 1) CSX has utilized their own trucking brand to deliver trailers from or to intermodal yards cutting out the additional company in many instances. In this segment of the business strategy, CSX was behind its competitors. The main competitor is Norfolk Southern which operates in the eastern United States just as CSX does. The reason that this information is important is due to investments in infrastructure. Many people do not know that generally the railroad have to fund most of their track maintenance and improvements out of their

Currently, the shipping and receiving departments have materials coming in and going out at the same time. With the rail handling shipping and receiving, this is creating a bottleneck of materials. By creating certain shipping and receiving times that do not conflict, this will allow for a smooth process that will help the supply chain. (Russell, R., et al., pg. 423) Not only does the actual manufacturing process need to run smoothly, but the shipping and receiving of materials needs to run the same.

railroads in the 20th century continued to develop. Between 1970 and 2000 the rails freight

Railroads can be used human passenger traffic, or the transportation of freight and shipments from one destination to another due to the fact that “trains are four times more fuel efficient than trucks” (Association of American Railroads [AAR], 2015), and the fact that railroads also “reduce highway gridlock, lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce pollution” (AAR, 2015). In fact railroad transportation according to United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration, “rail network accounts for approximately 40 percent of U.S. freight moves by ton-miles (the length freight travels)” (Federal Railroad Administration, 2010). With the reliance on railroads to transport freight and shipments from one place to another also

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate three technology opportunities associated with the transportation and logistics industry. With today’s constantly evolving business environment, consumers are placing demand on businesses of all industries, and they want products and services faster, with more added value, and delivered immediately. Nevertheless, customers are smarter by requiring more quality, innovation, and choice, and at the same time wanting to spend less money and effort. Consequently, every transportation business has to remain highly competitive in researching and developing innovative cost-cutting techniques in order to save money.

The difference in the share of railways in the USA and the EU is due to the geographical distances between cities in the USA and the EU. Railways cost less to operate and have fewer emissions when compared to trucking. Yet, the use of railways is limited for the following reasons: (i) building its infrastructure is very costly; (ii) the long lead time required for developing the infrastructure; (iii) consistent-high-volume of the freight traffic is needed for economic viability; and (iv) the need for trucks for the distribution to the final destinations. Trucks have many advantages over other modes of transportation, especially that they provide last mile delivery. Trucks, as compared to railways, ships, or planes have the most flexibility in reaching a destination, and the upfront

-The Logistics and Transportation Industry in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://selectusa.commerce.gov/industry-snapshots/logistics-and-transportation-industry-united-states.html

Growth in international trade has increased the importance of logistics and international transportation as strategic tools for achieving competitive advantage. One solution is to take advantage of the services of a freight forwarder. The evaluation and selection of a freight forwarder is a critical strategic decision for managers involved in international operations. In this Management Skill Builder, we focus on a basic approach for evaluating freight

Passenger and freight transportation systems have a number of similarities in the investment evaluation process, with a few significant differences. The table below offers an initial look at the stakeholders for each and their relative financial interests.

This research paper is written to explain the importance of globalization and supply chain management of the United Parcel Service (UPS). In this document, the reader will obtain the history and development of UPS as well as the supply chain strategy and strategic network optimization developed for their business. In addition, this report will also discuss the distribution network of UPS and how it operates to deliver packages to their destinations around the

The transportation and logistics industry is one of the key components of modern life. It provides the framework through which every raw material and finished consumer good is moved through the supply chain into the hands of consumers. This industry is generally taken for granted by consumers. When consumers do think about the industry it is thought of in terms of unchanging and stagnate transportation modes. This vision of the industry is not an accurate reflection of the reality of modern transportation industry. During the last several decades the technological innovations that have changed the face of modern life, have also had far reaching effects on the transportation industry. The pressures driving innovation in the industry

Transport plays a critical role in the supply chain and according to Bhattacharya et al. (2014) it is becoming one of the key components of the whole supply chain valuation for many organizations. Transportation is the movement of good from one location to another. Supply chain is a network of individuals, organizations, activities, resources and technology that is involved in formation and sale of a product, which is from the delivery of source materials from the supplier to the manufacturer, through to the end user. Hopkins (2007) states that supply chain professionals look at whole business procedures, which is from raw materials to manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing. And by