Unlocking the Power of Intermodal

SAN FRANCISCO — Focus groups offered three keys to unlocking seamless intermodal interchanges: reducing interchanges, improving the repair process and providing faster access to accurate information.

But the difficulties of carrying out these recommendations became apparent during an Aug. 23 session at the Intermodal Association of North America’s ninth annual conference.

Four panels and a town hall discussion were part of the association’s emphasis on providing practical information and exchanges on policy issues among the more than 500 motor carriers, terminal operators, port officials, drayage carriers and vendors at the meeting.

Speeding interchanges was a priority of the more than 100 participants in the discussion groups, which examined equipment exchanges at railroads, trucks, container depots and ports. Among the conclusions: Rail-truck interchanges were the most problematic and rail-to-rail moves were the easiest.

“For most motor carriers, the issue is time through the terminal. They don’t care how you do it,” said Frank Harder, a managing partner at the Tioga Group, a consulting firm in Philadelphia that had several members as focus group leaders.

Differing information needs and operational structures are the biggest problems in the rail-truck interchange, he said. Railroads need to do a better job of providing truckers with advance information on intermodal containers, and that information needs to be shared throughout the process.

“Once it gets out the gate, it goes off the edge of the world as far as railroads are concerned,” Harder said.