of environmental awareness. Clayton
Boyce, spokesman for the American
Trucking Associations (ATA), says
many truckers “do not appreciate the
railroad industry’s penchant for attacking the trucking industry” to assert
environmental superiority or further its
legislative goals in Congress. The ATA
has advanced an environmental initiative of its own, which includes limiting truck speeds to 65 mph and
increasing the gross vehicle weight
limit for single-trailer units to
97,000 pounds from the current
80,000 pounds.
In recent months, the
topic of intermodalism
has received attention
from outside the
industry as well. In late
March, the political
publication National
Journal hosted a blog
titled “Are We Intermodal
Enough Yet?” The posts from
thought leaders in the private
and public sectors as well as academia focused on the importance
of intermodal and the need to
expand the intermodal network.
One notable exception was a post by
Bill Graves, ATA’s president and CEO.
Graves said rather than wasting the
nation’s limited infrastructure funds on a
“vision,” money instead should be funneled into the highway system and to strengthen existing intermodal relationships. Graves said intermodal service should be encouraged
when it makes sense for shippers. But he noted that 83 percent of all freight tonnage still moves by either truck or rail
as a single mode. “Barring major shifts in lifestyles, land
use, or freight logistics, this will be the reality for the foreseeable future,” Graves said in his post.
Getting shippers on board
For all the political posturing, the real question is whether
sustainability will become an economic factor in shippers’
transport buying decisions. Few dispute that intermodal
represents the most environmentally friendly mode of
transportation. The question is whether railroads and intermodal marketers can connect the environment and the bottom line to persuade shippers that intermodal makes as
much business sense as it does ecological sense.
Thomas K. Sanderson, chairman, president, and CEO of
Transplace, a third-party logistics service provider, says there is
“clear empirical and anecdotal evidence” that companies are
factoring environmental concerns into their transport decisions. He cites continued demand for intermodal services
despite declines in fuel prices and truckload rates, both of
which should, in theory, drive significant traffic to truck. He
also sees more shippers awarding more business to carriers certified under the Environmental Protection Agency’s
“Smart Way” program, which identifies products and services
that reduce transportation-related emissions. “Enlightened
shippers are ahead of the curve in making decisions that favor
the bottom line and carbon footprint,” he says.
Others are not so sanguine about shipper interest.
Charles W. Clowdis Jr., managing director, North America,
for the consulting firm IHS Global Insight’s global commerce and transport practice, says that while some large
shippers are “making noise” about environmentally friendly shipping, they normally default to the mode that offers
the fastest transit times to maximize their inventory turns
and shorten cycle times. Though railroads have improved
their speed and reliability to market, trucks remain the
fastest way of getting goods to stores and warehouses.
Tom Malloy, a spokesman for the Intermodal Association
of North America, says that though environmental concerns are driving some additional intermodal growth, no
data exists to quantify the claim beyond what a specific railroad would have on its own customers. The intermodal
industry has been selling the environmental story for more
than 30 years, he says, but only recently have shippers stated they are migrating to intermodal in an effort to be more
environmentally responsible.
A question of access
Lawrence Gross, a senior consultant for the logistics consultancy FTR Associates, says environmental and economic
issues may not yet be sufficiently connected to drive a mass
migration to intermodal, but sustainability will soon be a
critical buying factor in weighing rail versus truck. “It will
become an issue to the extent that being a good environmental citizen will become more aligned with being a profitable operator,” he says.
