Economics and Planning of Short-Haul and Short-Line Railway Intermodal Service

To develop a more competitive and efficient transportation system, railroads have engaged in intermodal freight transportation of both containers and trailers. Though intermodal rail operations have increased dramatically since the 1950s, traffic trends have also evolved with shipper demands, improved rail infrastructure, and enhanced operational strategy. Many former main railroad lines are now operated by short-line and regional carriers. Industrial centers that were once home to intermodal terminals, both large and small, have lost their intermodal connectivity since short-line and regional railroads typically do not handle intermodal traffic. With local terminals lost, shippers have been forced to increase drayage distances to centralized Class I railroad intermodal terminals. With the economies of scale afforded by recent record levels of intermodal rail traffic, opportunities have arisen to revitalize short-haul intermodal service. In many instances, short-line and regional railroads have taken this opportunity to increase traffic and revenue on their own lines as well as increase traffic on existing intermodal lanes and bring relief to over-capacity centralized inter-modal terminals. In most instances, Class I railroads remain involved through operations and marketing of the short-haul service as part of their larger national network. This report summarizes ongoing research that, through examination of current and discontinued short-haul intermodal operations and communication with rail carriers of all sizes, identifies how the strengths of short-line and regional railroads can be leveraged to improve the efficiency of the Class I railroad intermodal network.