Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation, without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damage and loss, and allows freight to be transported faster. Reduced costs over road trucking is the key benefit for inter-continental use. This may be offset by reduced timings for road transport over shorter distances.
Containers being transferred to a cargo ship at the container terminal in Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany
Intermodal ship-to-rail transfer of containerized cargos at terminals in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States
A stagecoach transferred to a railroad car with a gantry crane, an example of early intermodal freight transport by the French Mail in 1844; the drawing is exhibited in Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum in Munich.
Transferring freight containers on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1928
In transportation, freight refers to goods conveyed by land, water or air, while cargo refers specifically to freight when conveyed via water or air. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in case of goods in the cold-chain, because the perishable inventory is always in transit towards a final end-use, even when it is held in cold storage or other similar climate-controlled facilities, including warehouses.
An articulated double-stack well car owned by the TTX Company. The 53 ft (16.15 m) capacity car is a Gunderson Maxi-IV.
Container ship at the Port of Helsinki in Finland
Cargolux Boeing 747-400F with the nose loading door open
Boeing 777 freighter of Emirates arrives at London Heathrow Airport (2015).