Assignment:
Part 1: Competition Within Intermodal Transportation
Intermodal transportation is a business and just like every other business, there is always going to be competition. Intermodal transportation is based on various modes of transportation...be it rail, truck, ship or air. Taking that into account, there is indeed potential for completion. It is safe to say that ships can carry on average more cargo tons than trains and trains can carry more than trucks.
This is one aspect of the competition. A forty-foot container can easily hold up to 67,000 pounds of cargo. The average eighteen-wheeled semi can hold up to 50,000 pounds. The gross weight a train can carry depends on many factors... the size of the containers and the length of the train. On average, a train can carry 24 million pounds of cargo a ship can take up to and over 30 million tons. Not only do the maximum weight the modes can carry have an impact, but there are other factors that impact the competition. A truck may be able to take 50,000 pounds but may travel on a route that will not allow it to take that much. A train with 24 million pounds will have issues going up hills enroute to its destination. A ship with the biggest pay load may take longer to get to deliver the cargo.
Competition adds a tone of efficiency and has the ability to improve effectiveness. Every company wants to be the best at what they do and wants to be the number 1 in their market. Every year a company looks at their returns in hopes of adding more customers, investors, and increasing profits. Intermodal competition will help increase productivity and help the sector meet or exceed their goals.
References
History of Intermodal Transportation
Part 2: Competition Within Intermodal Transportation
Competition within intermodal transportation is fierce with trucking, rail, air, and sea companies each competing with one another within their respective fields. This causes each leg of a journey to be cheaper than if one company had a monopoly and could set unwavering prices. Competition has the ability to promote cost savings and create technological advances that can cause the whole process to be more effective and efficient.
The privatization of industrial processes causes greater competition within the industry and lowers costs to consumers and the government, but if all parties that are competing against each other have similar pricing, what else can set them apart from each other? That's right, customer service! And customers are happy if they get their goods in the time promised, in good condition, and at a reasonable price. In order to do this, shipping, terminal, and goods transfer operations need to be efficiently coordinated in order to streamline costs and increase customer service.
Customer service additions come in the form of: the ease of ordering the products; the availability of the customer to track their shipment; a chance for an earlier arrival than expected; and the ease of which delivery or pickup is provided. This is all because "Meeting customer needs and delivering high quality (speed, reliability, and so on) for low costs are critical factors [of customer service]." (Konings, 2008)
The introduction of intermodal transportation has increased the amount of goods that can be moved at one time and the consumer world has risen to the challenge and demanded more goods at a faster pace. This increased workload has caused a strain on older shipping systems and facilities that have not been able to upgrade as fast as the intermodal industry has expanded, causing congestion at ports, railways, and roadways.
In a weird twist of irony, the same consumer that demands more goods at a faster rate is now the one experiencing delays in commuter travel, congested roadways, and seeing the environmental impacts. This is all due to the increased transportation traffic trying to keep up with consumer needs.
References:
Konings, J. W., Priemus, H., & Nijkamp, P. (2008). The Future of Intermodal Freight Transport: Operations, Design and Policy. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.