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We tend to view global trade as clearly defined and linear: A container is loaded, transported across the sea, arrives, and is delivered. But reality—especially in Europe—is far more fragmented and much more dependent on processes within individual countries.
The current discussions surrounding European transport corridors such as Corridor 8 (from Bulgaria to Albania) and Corridor 10 (from Greece to Austria) illustrate this point. (1) They reveal a system under pressure: Intermodal logistics is expected to transport increasing volumes via rail, road, and shipping networks, but the inland regions meant to support this flow of goods are struggling to keep up.
The real complexity of modern container transport lies not at sea, but inland.
Every container that arrives in Europe relies on a chain of inland container depots, rail terminals, and logistics hubs that receive, buffer, and distribute the flow of goods. These hubs are evolving from mere transhipment points to crucial control centres within the supply chain. However, many of them are limited by space, outdated infrastructure, and operating systems that were never designed to meet today's demands. Although intermodal transport is widely recognised as the most efficient and sustainable way of transporting goods over long distances, its effectiveness continues to be hampered by fragmented terminal networks and uneven infrastructure development along key routes.
While some ports continue to face capacity pressures, many of the most significant bottlenecks are increasingly found inland. And as long as inland terminals and logistics hubs aren't expanded, modernised, and more closely integrated into corridor-based transport systems, the entire intermodal value chain is at risk of stalling – regardless of how advanced the sea or rail segments are.
The question, therefore, is whether the inland network can develop quickly enough to meet future demands.
Intermodal container logistics refers to the transport of goods using two or more different modes of transport, with the cargo remaining in the same container throughout the entire journey. Instead of transferring the goods at each change of transport mode, the entire container is handled between ships, trains, trucks, and barges. This enables a more efficient and secure transport process.
At its core, intermodal logistics is based on standardisation. Because containers are manufactured according to internationally recognised dimensions and specifications, they can be handled with compatible equipment at ports, rail terminals, truck depots, and logistics centres worldwide.
A typical intermodal transport begins at a manufacturing plant, where the goods are loaded into a container. This container is then transported by truck, train, or barge to a seaport, loaded onto a container ship, and transported to another port. Upon arrival in the destination country, it is again transferred by truck, train, or barge and taken to its final destination.
Consolidation and deconsolidation
For shippers who cannot fill a standard 20- or 40-foot container on their own, consolidation and deconsolidation processes take place at strategic points in the supply chain:
At the starting point of the supply chain: consolidation
The goal is to combine many small shipments (LCL = Less than Container Load) into large, standardised container units (FCL = Full Container Load) to make the main leg of transport by rail, highway, or inland waterway as cost-effective as possible.
At transport interfaces: operational consolidation
Here, the contents of the containers are not changed, but the containers themselves are reconfigured. Trains from various directions arrive at gateway terminals or marshalling yards. The containers are transferred from short regional trains to block trains up to 740 metres long, and in some pilot projects, significantly longer trains exceeding 1,000 metres (2).
At the end of the supply chain: deconsolidation
The full container loads (FCLs) must be broken down into smaller units and prepared for the "last mile." At the deconsolidation centre, the container seal is broken, and the cargo is unloaded. The goods are sorted according to their final destinations (e.g., various supermarkets, branches, or end customers) and transferred to standard trucks, vans, or delivery vehicles.
Compared to conventional general cargo transport, the intermodal approach offers several advantages. By minimising cargo handling, the risk of damage, theft, and contamination is reduced. It also accelerates the transfer of goods between different modes of transport, thus contributing to improved overall supply chain efficiency.
Modern intermodal container logistics brings together numerous stakeholders: shipping companies handle maritime transport, terminal operators manage container handling, rail companies transport goods over long distances inland, carriers perform the physical transport, and freight forwarders often coordinate the entire transport process. In many cases, cargo owners, customs authorities, technology providers, and warehouse operators also play crucial roles.
The success of the network, therefore, depends not only on the physical infrastructure but also on the exchange of information. Accurate shipment data, equipment status updates, schedule information, and cargo transparency are essential for coordinating activities across different organisations and modes of transport.
Intermodal container logistics didn't become the dominant transport model simply because containers simplified cargo handling. Rather, its widespread adoption was driven by powerful economic and operational forces that have fundamentally transformed global trade in recent decades.
Companies expanded internationally, and supply chains stretched across continents. The ability to efficiently move goods between different modes of transport became a competitive necessity. Intermodal logistics, with its scalability, was ideally suited to this challenge. It allowed for the handling of growing trade volumes while simultaneously balancing cost, speed, reliability, and operational flexibility.
Modern supply chains are inconceivable without intermodal transport:
Supporting globalization
Since the second half of the 20th century, manufacturers have increasingly sourced materials, components, and finished products from various countries. Production facilities are often located far from the end markets, creating transportation requirements that extend well beyond national borders. As a result, supply chains are more geographically dispersed. A single product may require raw materials from one continent, manufacturing on another, and final consumption in a completely different region. Managing these complex flows of goods requires transportation systems capable of connecting different locations efficiently and reliably.
Balancing cost, speed, and reliability
A primary reason for the widespread adoption of intermodal logistics is its ability to reconcile competing transport priorities. Few modes of transport excel in all categories: Maritime shipping offers low transport costs for large volumes, but relatively slow transit times. Road transport offers flexibility and direct delivery options, but can become expensive over long distances. Rail provides cost-effective inland transport, but is dependent on fixed infrastructure and timetables. Intermodal logistics combines the strengths of each mode of transport.
Modern supply chains rely on the coordinated transport of containers across various modes of transport, organisations, and geographic regions. While this interconnectedness offers significant efficiency gains, it also presents vulnerabilities. The challenge lies in synchronising a multitude of interconnected activities.
Most of these challenges are not isolated problems: Delays, disruptions, and inefficiencies in one part of the network often have far-reaching consequences for subsequent actors and modes of transport. Understanding these challenges is crucial for identifying potential improvements in intermodal performance:
Network congestion and capacity bottlenecks
Ports, rail terminals, road networks, and inland hubs are each designed for specific freight volumes. If demand exceeds available capacity due to seasonal freight peaks, weather-related disruptions, or labour shortages, delays occur along the entire transport chain. Road and rail networks are also under pressure. Congestion, limited track capacity, and staff shortages can disrupt transport to and from ports.
Since expanding capacity is not always possible, the focus must be on improving the utilisation of existing infrastructure.
Fragmented information flows
Containers are transported through highly interconnected physical networks. However, the data associated with them is not always integrated to the same extent. Many stakeholders continue to use separate systems, databases, and communication processes. As a result, information can be delayed, duplicated, or unavailable to other stakeholders. This has far-reaching consequences for planning, waiting times, plant utilisation, customer transparency, and operating costs.
Equipment availability and positioning
Intermodal logistics is heavily dependent on the availability of containers, chassis, freight cars, handling equipment, and transport vehicles. Ensuring the right equipment is available at the right time and in the right place remains a constant challenge.
Imbalances are a common problem because trade flows are rarely symmetrical: some regions import more goods than they export, while in others it's the other way around. This can lead to large quantities of empty containers accumulating in one location while bottlenecks occur elsewhere.
At first glance, intermodal networks appear highly structured. Containers move through defined hubs – terminals, depots, rail junctions, ports, and distribution centres. Every movement is planned, scheduled, and documented. But on closer inspection, the picture becomes considerably less clear. The flow of information is not as seamless as, perhaps, the flow of the containers themselves.
This gap is particularly evident in inland container depots and hubs, where different modes of transport converge, and operational complexity is at its highest. Of the approximately 850 intermodal hubs (3) in Europe, the larger ones have advanced digitalisation, but many smaller terminals and hubs are not yet at that stage.
Intermodal hubs play a crucial buffering role. Each of their activities—storage, repositioning, inspection, repairs, and redistribution between different modes of transport—generates operational data, but not always in a standardised or real-time format. Therefore, container availability and status can become unclear not only for external stakeholders but sometimes even within the entire network.
This limited transparency forces the hub to act reactively rather than proactively. Instead of anticipating congestion, material shortages, or delays, those involved can often only react after disruptions have already occurred. This leads to:
The intermodal terminals may be smaller than the large terminals by the sea, but they face very similar circumstances.
The primary goal is to gain a detailed overview of container events throughout the entire terminal lifecycle. This includes arrivals and departures, positioning on the site, crane operations, monitoring dwell times, and the transfer status between rail and truck. Each of these events contributes to a continuously updated situational awareness picture, enabling better coordination between planning and execution teams.
A key benefit of this structured transparency is improved site utilisation. With precise container locations known, storage decisions can be optimised to avoid unnecessary relocations and reduce picking times. This directly impacts the productivity of equipment operating under time pressure.
Furthermore, it improves the synchronisation between rail schedules and terminal readiness. Accurate knowledge of container arrival and departure times allows operators to reduce idle time and minimise congestion at interfaces. This is particularly important at inland hubs where fixed time slots exist for rail connections, and delays can impact the entire network.
Intermodal logistics can keep pace with supply chain disruptions, but not without placing additional strain on existing networks and processes. The model itself is inherently resilient, as it combines different modes of transport—rail, road, and sea—thus enabling the rerouting of goods when one part of the system is disrupted. However, this flexibility depends heavily on available capacity, coordination, and real-time information flow between all parties involved.
Disruptions such as port congestion, train delays, extreme weather events, labour shortages, or geopolitical tensions expose structural weaknesses. Inland terminals, in particular, often become bottlenecks due to limited space, a lack of equipment, or scheduling conflicts. A lack of transparency along the transport chain is exacerbated, and inefficiencies spread to the interconnected nodes in the network.
Nevertheless, intermodal logistics remains one of the most effective systems for mitigating shocks in global trade. The ability to distribute the flow of goods across multiple corridors and modes of transport offers inherent protection against the failure of individual components. However, long-term stability depends on continuous investment in inland infrastructure, digital integration and corridor-based coordination – particularly at the level of terminals and logistics hubs, where disruptions tend to be more frequent.
International container logistics is an indispensable pillar of modern supply chains, combining the strengths of sea, rail, road, and inland waterway transport into a single, coordinated system. This approach supports efficiency, scalability, and sustainability, but also presents operational challenges.
Growing freight volumes are shifting bottlenecks inland. Container depots, rail terminals, and logistics centres must ensure smooth operations despite limited space, infrastructure constraints, and increasingly complex coordination requirements.
One of the industry's biggest challenges is transparency. Without precise, real-time information on container movements, equipment status, and terminal operations, even well-designed intermodal networks can become reactive, inefficient, and prone to disruption.
Therefore, expanding intermodal transport is not simply a matter of adding more trains, trucks, and barges. Success depends on strengthening inland logistics through infrastructure investments, improved coordination, and greater transparency of processes (read more about port automation projects).
Delve deeper into one of our core topics: Smart Port
A block train is a freight train dedicated to one customer, commodity, or route that runs as a single unit without intermediate sorting or car switching. That makes it faster, more reliable, and cheaper to operate than mixed freight because the wagons stay together from origin to destination. In logistics, block trains are often used for large, regular volumes such as containers, automotive parts, coal, or grain. They reduce handling, dwell time, and terminal congestion. (5)
Last mile is the final leg of a shipment’s journey, from a warehouse, distribution centre, or transport hub to the customer or final destination. It is often the most visible and expensive part of delivery because it involves many small drops, traffic, routing complexity, and tight service expectations. In e-commerce, the last mile strongly affects delivery speed, reliability, and customer satisfaction. (6)
References:
(1) https://xpert.digital/en/corridors-8-and-10/
(2) https://www.railjournal.com/freight/french-run-europes-longest-freight-train/
(3) https://www.uirr.com/web-news/intermodal-can-double-share-rail-freight-transport-eu
(4) https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eca/special-reports/intermodal-freight-transport-08-2023/en/
(5) Jason Monios and Rickard Bergqvist (2017): Intermodal Freight Transport and Logistics. Routledge.
(6) Coyle, John J.; Langley, C. John Jr.; Novack, Robert A. (2017). Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective. Cengage.
Note: This article was partly created with the assistance of artificial intelligence to support drafting.