Intermodality
Introduction
Intermodal transportation of goods is the name given to the articulation between different modes of transportation of goods "Cargo (transport)") using a single "load unit"[Note 1] (such as containers or mobile boxes), in order to more quickly and efficiently carry out the transshipment operations of materials and merchandise, during the transfer of cargo from a point of origin to a point of destination. They are considered different modes of transport, within land transport, truck and railway, and within water transport, maritime transport and transport by inland waterways.
The significant factor of intermodal transportation is the interaction that occurs between different means of the transportation chain. Intermodality allows the transport of goods using several modes of transport, under combined origin-destination transport documents, with a fractional regime of responsibility, since the rules that regulate it are applied to each mode of transport.
River transport is carried out by navigable canals and rivers, such as the Rhine River, the busiest waterway in Europe, the Danube River or the Volga River. The ships that ply them have been modernized, and now use intermodal containers that can be transported by truck or train.
Concept
By custom, the movement of goods was considered as a series of independent journeys (by road, rail, sea or air), which could intersect at some point where the goods were transferred from one mode of transport to another. Increasingly, the transport of goods is considered a constant flow between an origin and a destination ('door-to-door' transport), with an integrated transport concept, based on the connection of transport nodes and networks. Thus, logistics chains are born that include different modes of transport, between which the merchandise must be transshipped efficiently and profitably.[1].
The definition proposed, at the time, by the European Conference of Transport Ministers") (CEMT):[Note 2].
Furthermore, the European Commission defines intermodality as "the characteristic of the transport system that allows at least two modes to be used in an integrated manner in the 'door-to-door' transport chain."[2].
In intermodal transportation, more than one type of vehicle (or mode of transportation) is necessary to transport merchandise from its place of origin to its final destination. A particular case of intermodal transport is multimodal transport in which the merchandise travels with a single transport document[4] (the so-called "FIATA multimodal consignment note" or ). For this reason, the concepts of intermodal transport and multimodal transport are often confused or used interchangeably.