Industry and government are concerned about the capacity of ports and terminals, and the highways, rail lines, and waterways that serve them, to handle steadily increasing volumes of intermodal traffic, especially containerized freight. The volume of intermodal containers moving through ports worldwide doubled during the past decade. Similarly, the volume of intermodal freight by air, rail, and truck grew just as dramatically. Over the next two decades, volumes are expected to nearly double again.
cargo being loaded onto an airplaneToday’s intermodal freight system is not equipped to handle this growth. Ineffective links among modes are degrading the reliability and performance of carriers, shippers, and terminal operators. Moreover, the lack of effective information sharing among stakeholders creates bottlenecks and unnecessary delays in the efficient movement of freight. These deficiencies increase operating costs and congestion and decrease safety, economic competitiveness, and air quality.
Time pressures to deliver cargo more quickly than ever before have focused more attention on the ground-to-air intermodal link. Truck-to-air cargo movements grew rapidly in the 1990s and are expected to continue to increase in the future. Yet, the logistics links between these two modes are still largely maintained and regulated using paper- and telephone-based information exchanges. To respond to the needs of the marketplace and to ensure the security of air passengers and cargo shipments, the U.S. Department of Transportation is encouraging the development and use of new tools and processes.