Demand for intermodal transportation in Arkansas

811804Technical report 5/93-12/94PDFResearch PaperFR 1018Freight transportationIntermodal transportationLogisticsCommodity flowCost accountingRail transitService timeTruckingArkansasMack-Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study Center (U.S.)Ozment, JohnUniversity of Arkansas at Little RockNTL-FREIGHT-Freight Planning and PolicyNTL-FREIGHT-IntermodalismNTL-FREIGHT-Trucking IndustryAGR-FREIGHT-Intermodal Freight TransportationUS Transportation CollectionIntermodal transportation offers many benefits to shippers and society in general, and intermodal movements have grown rapidly over the past 20 years, however, it still represents a very small portion of the total freight market. Thus, the benefits to the shippers and society are not being fully realized. Many shippers who use truck transportation assume that service times of intermodal movements would prohibit their use of it, and shippers who use rail service often assume that transportation costs of intermodal would prohibit its use; however, few shippers actually base their mode selection on total cost. The purpose of this study is to examine the role that intermodal transportation plays in today's logistics environment and to assess its potential for further growth and adoption by examining the potential for intermodal service based on total logistics costs. Based on data provided in the DOT's 1997 Commodity Flow Survey, a selection of products of different values were used as examples to assess the total cost of movements between hypothetical origins and destinations. The result of the total cost of these movements provide insight into their potential impact of shifting freight from truck to truck-rail intermodal