J.FeiAMC

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Organisation of this unit

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Learning objectives
• Explain what is meant by a transport system
• Explain how different systems and routes
  intersect and inter-connect
• Discuss how systems increase efficiency through
  routes, nodes and interchanges
• Detail the nature of intermodal transport
• Demonstrate your understanding of trends and
  patterns of international trade
• Explain the relationship between international
  trade and the global transport system

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• The transport system concept
• Transport nodes and interchanges
• Nodes and routes
• Hub and spoke system
• Intermodal transport
• Intermodalism
• containerisation
• Globalisation, international trade and transport
• World economy and international trade
• International trade and global transport

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• The transport system concept
• A transport system the assemblage of components
  associated with a specific means of transport.
• Railway systems consisting of tracks, stations,
  signalling equipment, rolling stock, maintenance
  yards, freight depots, motive power (engines) and
  employees.
• Road systems roads or road networks, private and
  commercial vehicles, services stations, freight
  depots, bus stations, and car parks. Road
  transport systems are the largest and most
  loosely coordinated of all the transport systems.

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• The transport system concept
• Air systems composed of private or commercial
  aircraft, airport terminals, air corridors,
  hangars, labour, runways, and host of other
  materials. Air transport systems are more loosely
  coordinated than rail systems.
• Ocean or water systems private or commercial
  vessels (ocean vessels, river barges, yachts,
  fishing boats etc), seaports/terminals/jetties,
  shipping lanes/channels, lighthouses.

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• The transport system concept
• National transport systems the combination of
  all transport systems road, railway, air, and
  water transport systems.
• International or global transport systems when
  national transport systems interface with one
  another at national boundaries or cross national
  boundaries.

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• The transport system concept
• Transport nodes and interchanges
• Network the framework of routes within a system,
  both visible (roads, railways, and inland
  waterways) and invisible (air and sea corridors).
  
• Routes links between one point and another in
  the network.
• Nodes and terminals points in the network where
  several routes converge. They often act as a
  focus for transport services or a point of
  exchange where one mode of transport is exchanged
  for another.
• The common characteristic of nodes and terminals
  is that they allow the transfer of persons or
  freight from one mode of transport to another.

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International Transport Systems (M05)
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International Transport Systems (M05)
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International Transport Systems (M05)
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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Transport nodes and interchanges
• Nodes and routes increasing routes, increasing
  efficiency, increasing complexity.
• What do you think the fate of Point 3 might be
  and why?

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Transport nodes and interchanges
• Hubs centres to activities in a network and a
  transport system.
• In the following drawing think of the nodes as
  representing seaports, airports, freight depots
  and distribution centres while the edges
  represent air and sea corridors, train tracks or
  roads
• Rather than being circumvented,
• Point 3 is the hub of activities,
• say an international seaport
• receiving goods from one
• region and dispatching them
• to others. The growth in the
• number of routes in the
• network has been in response
• to increased economic activity
• in and between countries A,
• B and C.

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Transport nodes and interchanges
• Hubs
• What would we have to add to this diagram now to
  make it a more complete picture of an
  international transport system?

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Transport nodes and interchanges
• Hub and spoken system

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Transport nodes and interchanges
• Hub and spoken system
• Because of economies of scale, airlines have
  found it profitable and efficient to have
  relatively small consignments of freight or
  numbers of passengers transported to locations at
  which they can be consolidated and grouped for
  further movement or, conversely, from which they
  can be dispersed. The concentration of facilities
  lowers costs for the airlines and costs for their
  customers.
• Ship operators take advantage of hub seaports
  for the consolidation and dispersal of freight.
  The activity of a hub seaport involves very
  significant transport exchanges. Trains, trucks,
  barges and pipelines move shipping freight either
  into the hub from surrounding regions or inland
  for dispersal throughout the ports hinterland.
• Both train and road systems also have hubs where
  freight is consolidated or from which freight is
  dispersed.

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Intermodal transport
• Competition between modes tends to make a
  transport system segmented and un-integrated,
  therefore inefficient.
• Intermodal brings together two or more modes of
  transport to move passengers or freight from
  their origin to their destination, using the
  efficiencies of each of the carriers to greatest
  advantage.
• Intermodal relates to containers that will be
  filled and sealed at their point of origin and
  not opened again until they have reached their
  destination.
• Therefore, while the transfer of bulk cargo, such
  as iron ore, from a ship to a truck or a train is
  an exchange of modes and , technically,
  intermodal, it is not generally what is pictured
  when the term intermodal transport is used.

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Intermodal transport
• Intermodalism has been brought by
• The development of handling technology, e.g.
  containerisation
• Changes in public policy, e.g. deregulation has
  liberated companies to own across modal types,
  which has been a strong impetus towards
  intermodal cooperation.
• Information and communication technology, e.g.
  EDI (Electric Data Interchange)

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Intermodal transport
• Containerisation
• ISO (International Standards Organisation) in
  1970, dictated that container sizes should be
• 8 feet 6 inch high and 8 feet wide (or 2.59x2.44
  m), 10 40 feet in length (3.05-12.2m)
• TEU Twenty feet Equivalent Unit, standard unit
  size (loading capacity 20 33.18m³, 21.72t
  40 67.67m³, 26.78t)
• High Cube 40 x 8 x 96

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Intermodal transport
• The advantages of using containers
• Standard transport product
• Speed, containers are handled more quickly and
  more easily, thus reducing loading and unloading
  time.
• Costs, reduced shipping costs through rapid
  transhipment operations and achievement of
  economies of scale, and reduced insurance costs
  on cargo.
• Management, every container carries a unique
  identification number, making computerised
  management possible.
• Warehousing, free of weather condition, increased
  space utilisation.
• Security, reduced pilfering
• Documentation, simplified documentation process.
• Drawbacks
• Consumption of space, container storage
• Infrastructure costs container construction,
  handling facilities, etc.
• Security concerns illicit trade of drugs,
  weapons, and illegal immigration
• Empty travel as a result of imbalanced trade

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Containerisation
• World container throughput by countries (unit
  1,000 TEU)

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Containerisation
• World container throughput by ports (unit 1,000
  TEU)

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International Transport Systems (M05)
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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Globalisation, international trade and transport
• World economy and international trade
• Concentration and specialisation in production
  for a given country, the number of varieties
  produced has been reduced, matched by a greater
  volume of output for each variety.
• Lowered production costs (economies of scale)
• Surpluses generated, which can be traded for
  commodities that would be too expensive to
  produce locally.
• Trade blocs EU (Europe Union), NAFTA (North
  American Free Trade Agreement)
• New economies from developing world

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• World merchandise trade by major region, 2004
  (Source WTO 2005)

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• International trade and global transport
• Reduced international shipping costs
• Technical improvement bigger vessels, more
  efficient engines, etc.
• Containerisation
• Information technology

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Estimates of total freight costs for imports in
  world trade by country groups

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• Estimates of total freight costs for imports in
  world trade by country groups

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International Transport Systems (M05)

• International trade and global transport
• Transport is referred to as an enabling factor
  that is not necessarily the cause of
  international trade, but a means without which
  globalisation could not have occurred.
• Because of the geographical scale of
  international trade, freight movements circulate
  over several transport modes. This requires
  seamless transfer between modes, which depends
  very much on the compatibility of facilities and
  equipment, coordination of operations and smooth
  flows of information.
• In a global scale, an efficient transport system
  should have sound transport infrastructure (e.g.
  vehicles and terminals), professional transport
  services (e.g. warehousing, finance, insurance
  and marketing etc.) and a facilitating
  transactional environment (national and
  international regulations, tariffs).