TOPIC:

By the end of this session trainees should be

able to
understand the Multimodal transport
operations and the role of a multimodal
transport operator (MTO)

Relate Multimodal with Intermodal

On completion of this session you should be
able to:
 Define the term “Multimodal / Intermodal
Transport”.

 Describe the different forms of multimodal

transport operations and operators.

 State the relationship of a Multimodal

Transport Operator (MTO) with the
intervening parties.
 Describe
the scope of services covered
by an MTO.

 State
the advantages of multimodal
transport for forwarders.
 Introduction

 Definition of Multimodal and Intermodal

Transport

 Definitions and Common terms in MT

 Features
/ characteristics of Multimodal
Transport
 Infrastructure Requirements for MT

 Importance of Multimodal Transport

 Operations and Operators in Multimodal

Transport
 Parties in Multimodal transport

 Documents in Multimodal transport

 Advantages and Disadvantages in Multimodal

transport
 Containerization greatly impacts the role of freight forwarders
as they get involved in multimodal transport, i.e. carriage of
goods by more than one mode of transport under a single
contract.
 As MTO, he assumes responsibility for the execution of the
multimodal transport contract, and of the carriers.
 May sub contract but remains responsible to consignor and
liable to consequences of the contract
 Acting as MTO, transforms his role from intermediary
to principle; carriers become subcontractors.
 Multimodal transportation is not a recent invention,
goods from overseas and destined inland have always
travelled on multi modes of transport.
 What is new is:
 No breaking bulk,
 Under cover of one document.
 This is the result of the container “revolution” (over
the last 20-30 years)
 Resulting in development of Ro-Ro vessels, trailers or
sea-ferries creating land-bridge routes.
 Heavy loads are carried in barges which in turn are
loaded onto vessels like containers, in systems known
as “lash” or “Aseabee”.
Multimodal Transport
 carriage of goods by more than one mode of
transport under a single contract.

 Multimodal transport, refers to a transport system

usually operated by one carrier with more than one
mode of transport under the control or ownership of
one operator. It involves the use of more than one
means of transport such as a combination of truck,
railcar, airplane or ship in succession to each other.
 Is a transport offering more than one mode of transport.
 It provides door to door service to the shipper embracing
two or more forms of transport, and involving the
merchandise being conveyed in a unitized form throughout
the transit.
 Under the responsibility of one freight forwarder called
Multimodal Transport Operator.
 It is a chain that interconnects different modes of transport
into one complete process, that is efficient and cost –
effective.
 MT is internationally accepted as a safe and efficient
movement of goods.
 MTO accepts full responsibility from door to door
 MT has become more attractive due to:
Technological development in transport, operations and
communications
MT services are increasingly becoming market segment
oriented than transport mode oriented.
 Intermodal transportation. The movements of freight
from one mode of transport to another, commonly taking
place at a terminal specifically designed for such a
purpose.
 Intermodal transportation network. A logistically
linked system using two or more transport modes with a
single rate.
 Modes are having common handling characteristics,
permitting freight to be transferred between modes during
a movement between an origin and a destination.
Intermodal
 It also implies that the cargo does not need to be
handled, just the load unit such as a pallet or a
container.

 This involves the use of at least two different modes

in a trip from an origin to a destination through an
intermodal transport chain, which permit the
integration of several transportation networks.
Intermodal
 Intermodality enhances the economic performance of a
transport chain by using modes in the most productive
manner.
 the line-haul economies of rail may be exploited for long
distances, with the efficiencies of trucks providing flexible
local pick up and deliveries. The key is: entire trip is seen as a
whole, rather than as a series of legs, marked by an
individual operation with separate sets of documentation and
rates.
 Multimodal Transport Contact
A contract in which a Multimodal Transporter undertakes
to perform or to procure performance of international
multimodal transport.
 Multimodal Transport Document
Document evidencing the existence of a multimodal
transport contract, the taking in charge of goods by the
transport operator and an undertaking to deliver the goods
as per the contract. The document could be negotiable or
non-negotiable
 Multimodal Transport Operator
“Any person who on his own behalf or through another
person acting on his behalf, concludes a multimodal
transport contract and who acts as a principle, not as an
agent of or on behalf of the consignor or of the carriers
participating in the multimodal operations, and who
assumes responsibility for the performance of the
contract.”
 Carrier
The person who performs or undertakes to perform the
carriage of, or part thereof whether he is identical with the
multimodal transport operator or not.
 Taken in Charge
Also “taking the goods in charge” or “taking in charge”
implies that the goods have been handed over to and
accepted for carriage by the multimodal transport operator.
 Consignee
The person entitled to receive the goods from the
multimodal transport operator
 Consignor
The person who concludes the multimodal transport
contract with the multimodal transport Operator.
 Delivery
The handing over of the goods to the consignee; the placing
of the goods at the disposal of the consignee as per
multimodal transport contract or as per the law applicable
or usage of the particular trade applicable at the place of
delivery; the handing over of the goods to an authority or
third party to whom, pursuant to the law or regulations
applicable at the place of delivery, the goods must be
handed over.
 Goods
Any properties including live animals as well as
containers, pallets or similar articles of transport not
supplied by the MTO, regardless of whether such property
is to be or is carried on or under deck.
 Consolidation
Is a process of dispatching as one overall consignment
under an agent / freight forwarder’s sponsorship by Air,
Rail, Container or Road Haulage unit, a number of
individual compatible consignments from various
consignors to various consignees
 Dedicatedservice with each operator/carrier committed
to schedule

 Developsand coordinates the best features of transport

modes to advantage the shipper

 Operates under NVOCCC (Non vessel operating common

carrier company arrangement)

 Providesregular, reliable, competitively priced door-to-

door service with acceptable transit times
 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology helps
companies and government agencies (customs
documentation) cope with complex global transport system,
also monitor goods.
 Extensive network, fast growth and wide range of services
stimulates development of markets worldwide
 Exploits economies of scale and yields favorable returns on
transport investment; good asset utilization of infrastructure
allows competitive door-to-door through rates
 Fullload or consolidation favors both small and large
shippers
 Single MTO takes responsibility from origin to destination.
 MTO, his agent, carrier or any other party contacted by
him or on his behalf performs the whole or any part of
transport but he remains solely responsible to consignor.
 Single transport document for conveying goods
 Morethan on mode of transport used in the
conveying process

 Door-to-Door contract

 MTO reserves sole rights of disposing of goods

 Usuallymore than one operator are involved along

the chain of carrying the goods
 Well developed in the developed world

 Heavily dependent on technology advancement

ROADS
 Roads must support all types of traffic in all weather and
conditions

 Axle-load
capacity of pavements must meet worldwide
standards

 Network with other transport modes infrastructure

 Nodes of transfers must have well maintained facilities

RAIL
 Network of rail lines
 Sufficient number of different types of wagons,
 Locomotives for shunting and main line operations
 Marshaling yards , sidings, exchange yards, etc.
 Loading and unloading platforms
Maintained and supplied in adequate capacities
AIR
 Facilities for perishable, high value and urgent cargo
 Well developed air transport
 Facilities to speed up handling to match with nature of air
cargo
 Equipment for handling, tracking, loading and offloading
 Storage sheds
 Security facilities to cater for safety
INLAND CONTAINER DEPOT
 Support rail, road, inland waterways and sea ports.
 Act as nodes/points for change from one mode to another
 Used for stuffing containers before start of export journey
 Facilitate transshipment
 Key land Customs point
 Equipped to speedily handle cargo passing through
All these modes must be well connected with transfer nodes
that are fully equipped and maintained.
Land-Sea-Land
 An empty container is picked up from the line’s container yard
in Singapore and trucked to shipper’s factory in Johore
(Malaysia) for stuffing, thereafter the FCL is trucked to
Singapore and transported by ocean vessel to New York.
 Truck from vessel to rail-head New York
 Rail from New York to rail-head Chicago
 Truck from Chicago rail-head to consignee’s warehouse.
Road/Air/Road
 A combination of air carriage with truck transport is a
frequent method of multimodal service. Undoubtedly, pick
up and delivery services by road transport are usually
incidental to air transport.
 Many airlines provide road service to cities which they
either find uneconomical to service by air, or to which they
do not enjoy landing rights.
Sea/Air/Sea
 This combines the economy of sea transport and the speed
of air transport and is becoming increasingly popular in
several international trade routes like the Far East Europe
route. The economics of this combination mode favor high
value items like electronics, electrical goods, computers
and photographic equipment as well as goods with high
seasonal demand such as fashion wear and toys.
 Thismultimodal operation is particularly applicable where the route to
be covered combines large distances via land and water, and where
transit time is important.
Rail/road/inland waterways/sea
 This combination mode is in common use when goods have
to be moved by sea from one country to another and one or
more inland modes of transport such as rail, road or inland
waterways, have to be used for moving the goods from an
inland Centre to the seaport in the country of origin or from
the seaport to an inland Centre in the country of
destination.
 Mini-bridge
 This involves the movement of containers, under a through
bill of lading issued by an ocean carrier, by a vessel from a
port in one country to a port in another country and then
by rail to a second port city in the second country,
terminating at the rail carrier's terminal in the second port
city. The mini-bridge offers the consignor a through
container rate inclusive of rail freight up to the final port
city in the country of destination/delivery.
Land bridge
 This system concerns itself with shipment of containers
overland as a part of a sea-land or a sea-land-sea route. In
this case also, the railways are paid a flat rate by the ocean
carrier who issues the through bill of lading. This system is
in operation for the movement of containers on certain
important international routes such as:
􀂃 between Europe or the Middle East and the Far East via
the Trans-Siberian land bridge; and
􀂃 between Europe and the Far East via the Atlantic and
Pacific coasts of the U.S.A., continental U.S.A. being used as
a land bridge.
Ro-Ro (Roll-on/Roll-off)
 This mode combines different means of transportation
(sea and road), and is used most often with new
automobiles, which are shipped by sea and them
simply driven off the vessel to the importer’s
warehouse. Heavy and over-dimensional cargo is also
suitable for Ro-Ro transport.
L.A.S.H. (Lighter Abroad Ship)
 LASH transport is the combination of deep sea and
inland waterway transportation. An example is the
route from Germany to the Mississippi Ports where
the barges sail down the Rhine, Elbe or Weser in
Germany, are loaded onto LASH container vessels in
Rotterdam, Hamburg or Bremen; are then carried
across the Atlantic, only to be unloaded at a
Mississippi delta port to sail upstream in the U.S.
Piggyback
 This is a system of unitized multimodal land
transportation, a combination of transport by road
and rail. It has become popular in Latin American
and European countries because it combines the
speed and reliability of rail on long hauls with the
door-to-door flexibility of road transport for collection
and delivery. The goods are packed in trailers and
hauled by tractors to the railway station.
Sea train
 This is another innovation in the multimodal transport
system involving the use of rail and ocean transport. It
was originally adopted in the U.S.A. It is similar to the
roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) system except that in the place of
the Ro-Ro vehicle a rail car is used so that
geographically separated rail systems can be connected
by the use of an ocean carrier.
 Typically these vessels are long and thin and consist of
one main deck running the length of the ship. They are
quicker at loading trains than general cargo vessels
since the train’s carriages do not need to be detached
from one another.
 Minimizes time loss at trans-shipment points
Multimodal transport, which is planned and coordinated
as a single operation, minimizes the loss of time and the
risk of loss, pilferage and damage to cargo at trans-
shipment points.

 Provides faster transit of goods

The faster transit of goods made possible under
multimodal transport reduces the disadvantages of
distance from markets and the tying-up of capital.
 Reduces burden of documentation and formalities
The burden of issuing multiple documentation and other
formalities connected with each segmented of the transport
chain is reduced to a minimum.
 Saves cost
The savings in costs resulting from these advantages are
usually reflected in the through freight rates charged by the
multimodal transport operator and also in the cost of cargo
insurance. As savings are passed onto the consumer
demand increases.
 Establishes only one agency to deal with
The consignor has to deal with only the multimodal
transport operator in all matters relating to the
transportation of his goods, including the settlement of
claims for loss of goods, or damage to them, or delay in
delivery at destination.
 Reduces cost of exports
The inherent advantages of multimodal transport system
will help to reduce the cost of exports and improve their
competitive position in the international market.
Conclusion
 These examples are only illustrative, not exhaustive. In actual practice,
several other combination modes may be used depending upon the trade
routes, trans-shipment points and the availability of different modes of
transport.
 A MTO should have the knowledge and skill to organize the
transportation of goods through different modes of transport. He should
be aware of what is happening in the areas of technological development,
political stability of countries, congestion of routes or mergers of
operators.