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In rail-truck intermodal transport, a highway truck-trailer or container is moved by truck from a shipper to a rail terminal in the shipper's vicinity, and by rail in line haul between rail terminals. Upon being unloaded at the destination rail terminal, the container is delivered to a receiver (consignee) by truck. The highway portion of the move, or drayage, accounts for a relatively high percentage of total origin to destination cost, and it limits severely the competitiveness of intermodal service with door-to-door truck service. The approach used in this thesis is to examine in detail the current costs and potential for improvement at one intermodal terminal for a pre-determined analysis period. The analysis is conducted by first determining the actual cost of container movements and comparing it with the costs of an operation in which movements are scheduled using a proposed heuristic model that reduces the movements of empty containers. The model results indicate a 7.79% reduction in the overall cost of drayage. This reduction is achieved by repositioning and reloading containers, after they have been unloaded at consignees.
TRB’s National Cooperative Freight Research Program (NCFRP) Report 11: Truck Drayage Productivity Guide is designed to help improve drayage productivity and capacity while reducing emissions, costs, and port-area congestion at deepwater ports. The guide includes suggestions designed to help shippers, receivers, draymen, marine terminal operators, ocean carriers, and port authorities address inefficiencies, control costs, and reduce associated environmental impacts of truck drayage.
This thesis presents a case study of the trucking (or drayage) portion of rail-truck intermodal freight transportation. The approach used was to examine in detail the current costs and potential for improvement at one New Jersey intermodal terminal. The analysis is conducted using a mathematical programming model to find an optimal scheduling plan for the drayage operation. To solve the model more efficiently, a modification is made to explore the special structure of the original problem which has a sparse constraint matrix. The model is solved first with an objective function that minimizes the total cost of the operation, and then with an objective function that minimizes the total tractor fleet size required to move the containers. The model results indicate a 19.2% and 52.7% reduction in overall costs respectively for the objectives of minimizing total cost and minimizing fleet size. This reduction is achieved by repositioning and reloading containers, after they have been unloaded at consignees.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the status and potential benefits of intermodal rail transportation, in which loaded containers or trailers are transferred intact from truck to rail and back to truck. Specifically, GAO (1) examined recent trends in intermodal rail transportation, (2) assessed the prospects for more intermodal cooperation between the rail and trucking industries, (3) identified problems that limit the effectiveness and benefits of intermodal transportation, and (4) considered whether any federal initiatives might be helpful in encouraging intermodal cooperation.
Examines recent trends in intermodal rail transportation; assessed the prospects for more intermodal cooperation between the rail and trucking industries; identified problems that limit the effectiveness and benefits of intermodal transportation, and considered whether any federal initiatives might be helpful in encouraging intermodal cooperation. Charts and tables.
Efficient movement of freight within the United States and across its borders is a critical enabler of future U.S. economic growth. The authors provide an overview of the freight-transportation system and the problems it faces, concluding with a discussion of key system-modernization issues, including increasing capacity, making the system less vulnerable to disruption, addressing environmental concerns, and building support for funding.
GAO reviewed developments in intermodal freight transportation and its potential to relieve the nation's highways of some of the freight burden, focusing on: (1) the prospect of greater cooperation between the rail and trucking industries; and (2) challenges that the industries must overcome if the nation is to fully realize the potential benefits of intermodal freight transportation. GAO found that: (1) previous problems with cargo damage were significantly reduced by improved track and new types of intermodal railcars; (2) large truckload companies have recently seen advantages in using intermodal service, such as cost savings on long hauls, handling more volume with existing tractor and driver fleets, and reducing driver turnover; (3) truck traffic to and from intermodal terminals is adding to urban congestion in some major metropolitan areas; (4) intermodal service has had limited impact on highway traffic in the eastern United States because cities are close to each other; (5) the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Office of Intermodalism could play a useful role in helping industry and local government officials to agree on plans and funding to solve intermodal transportation problems in major urban areas; (6) The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) permits greater flexibility in using trust funds and emphasizes the need for intermodal planning in solving transportation problems; and (7) none of the ISTEA major funding sections specifically authorize the use of trust funds for intermodal freight facilities.
For close to 100 years, America's surface freight industries, primarily rail and trucking, operated under the protective wing of the U.S. government. In 1980 Congress, finding vast inefficiencies in the two industries, substantially deregulated both, opening them at last to market competition. Deregulation has brought with it many changes—for firms within the industries, for their labor force, and for shippers and their customers. Clifford Winston, Thomas M. Corsi, Curtis M. Grimm, and Carol A Evans provide a comprehensive evaluation of the effect of the deregulation legislation on the rail and trucking industries. According to the authors, deregulation has made substantial progress in solving the two most vexing problems of the surface freight transportation industry—excessive rates in the trucking industry and insufficient returns on investment in the rail industry. Competition and efficiency have returned to both industries, and although the labor force in each has suffered wage and job losses, shippers and their customers have gained roughly $20 billion a year in benefits. The authors recommend policies that would continue to promote competition and the efficient use of highway and railway infrastructure.