Since its inception in the 19th century, “multimodal transport”, as a higher form of cargo transportation organization, has integrated the characteristics of various transportation methods, leveraging strengths and mitigating weaknesses to simplify freight turnover, reduce cargo loss, lower transportation costs, and achieve efficient and rational transportation. Since 2014, China has been continuously focusing on the development of multimodal transport. It is projected that by 2025, there will be a basic formation of a pattern for the long-distance transportation of bulk cargo and containers primarily via railways and waterways. In the context of a dual-carbon approach, multimodal transport features resource integration, green and low-carbon aspects, as well as cost-efficient operations. This article takes a global perspective to explore the development of multimodal transport, then delves into the analysis of domestic reasons for its development and explores opportunities for China's multimodal transport development.

01. Development of International Multimodal Transport: Pivotal Transition with Container Standardization

Globally, the transportation of goods primarily involves four modes: road, rail, air, and sea shipping. As the economy continues to grow, a singular transportation mode struggles to meet the demands of extensive logistics needs.

Multimodal transport facilitates synergies among different modes, mitigating the impacts of relying solely on one mode of transportation. Based on the type of intermodal transport, it can be categorized into sea-rail combined transport, land-bridge transport, sea-air combined transport, among others. Among these, sea-land combined transport represents the primary organizational form of international multimodal transport and is the main mode for Far East/Europe multimodal transport. Land-bridge transport mainly revolves around containerized sea-land transport. Sea-air combined transport, while enhancing efficiency, also effectively manages costs.

So far, the global development of multimodal transport can generally be divided into three stages:

The first stage, in the 1960s, extended the land transportation chain and led to the emergence of land-bridge transport.

Some railway companies gradually expanded their predominantly pack animal-based transportation services, cooperating with trucking companies to extend the inland container transport chain. This period witnessed the increasing popularity of containers in maritime transport. The South Pacific Railway Company and shipping companies jointly developed a new container transport service, making land-bridge transport an alternative to all-water transport. This gave rise to two types of land-bridge transport systems: "small land-bridge" and "micro land-bridge," laying the foundation for containerized sea-rail combined transport. Concurrently, Europe also developed multimodal transport. In 1966, based on the formation of an inland container rail freight network, a sea-rail multimodal transport service commenced between the United Kingdom and Belgium.

The second stage, in the 1970s and 80s, witnessed further development in railway freight intermodal transport, marking a shift in trade patterns.

The third stage, from the 1990s to the present, saw gradual adjustments in international division of labor and trade, with economic globalization continually improving the world's transport network.

02. "Dual Carbon" Development Boosts Multimodal Transport

Transportation emissions account for approximately 10% of China's total carbon emissions. Compared to roadways, railways and waterways have larger freight volumes and lower energy consumption. However, due to their extensive coverage and flexibility, road transport maintains a higher proportion in China's transportation system. Statistics show that road transport has the highest emission contribution among different modes. Therefore, appropriately increasing the proportion of railway and waterway transportation in the overall transport mix can effectively reduce carbon emissions in transportation. On the other hand, multimodal transport can effectively break transportation barriers, optimize logistics capacity and processes, enhance logistics efficiency, and consequently reduce carbon emissions during transportation.

In accordance with China Business Network (CBN), if international containers are transported from Qingdao to Xi'an, the logistics cost of railway-water combined transportation can be reduced by 20%-40% that of the highway long-distance transportation. Calculated by 50,000 TEUs, in case of all containers with the railway-water combined transportation, the fuel saving is about 29,000 tons, equivalent to the fuel consumption of 27,000 private vehicles a year, with the carbon emission reduction of 86,000 tons.

With the development of container logistics, multimodal transport can promote complementary advantages among various transportation modes, mitigate the impact of relying solely on one mode of transport, and contribute to the construction of a unified major market. Westwell, as a pioneer enterprise in the intelligent output of the "Belt and Road" initiative, is dedicated to the intelligent transportation of large-scale container logistics. In the context of dual carbon goals, leveraging the wave of multimodal transport, Westwell aims to upgrade the global logistics industry through a strategic combination of "intelligence" and "greenification".

References

Changjiang Securities Research Institute| "Multimodal Transport: In-depth Research Report on China's Multimodal Transport"

Industrial Securities:"Industry In-depth Research Report: The Next Blue Ocean Market-Prospects of China's Multimodal Transport from the Perspective of the US Experience"

Zheshang Securities:"The Emerging Trend of Multimodal Transport, Awaiting Market Explosion-In-depth Report on Multimodal Transport"

Inbound Logistics Magazine《What Is【Intermodal Transportation】? History, Benefits, Examples》