E-Business Challenges for Intermodal Freight: Some International Comparisons

Separate Canadian and Australian government-sponsored studies, both reporting in mid-2001, have investigated expected impacts of rapid growth in e-business on transportation infrastructure and services. The different viewpoints of these two studies allow consideration of implications for freight transportation in general and intermodal freight in particular. The findings reported, relating to supply chain changes, special challenges for rail- and sea-freight carriers, and changes in requirements for freight warehousing and interchange, have international relevance, which leads to suggested policy responses. The importance of e-business in affecting freight transportation should not be underestimated. Transportation experts interviewed in the Australian study unanimously considered this the issue of most consequence for transportation over the next 5 to 10 years. Both studies point to freight transportation having significant potential to aid economic growth from e-business and conversely to a lack of appropriate infrastructure to accommodate that growth.