International boundaries do not have any cap on how much goods can be transferred between countries these days.
The most common method in transportation of goods is that of the land freight, involving the movement of goods over land. Land-based freight transportation can be achieved using two common ways. One of the ways is to use trucking firms to convey the goods. When using a trucking firm, they pick up the goods, transport and hand over the goods at an agreed destination.
The other mode of land freight transport is the rail freight transportation. This means of transport uses the railways as a solution to conveying goods from one place to another. Usually shippers use freight trucks carrying the goods through rails until the goods get to the place they are being sent to. A lot of times, road and transportation by rails are combined to bring goods to specific destinations. Although in some places where rail freight transportation is absent, roads are used exclusively.
Furthermore, freight transport could also use waterways for transport of goods. Water freight transport use containers that are securely stacked with goods to ensure they are fixed to a position during the journey. This is also applicable to transport via rail shipping.
When considering shipping options, water transport is usually feasible and cost effective. This is particularly significant when the destination country of the goods is very far away from where it is manufactured. In comparison, it is also cost-effective when goods are moved via rail shipping.
Another effective freight option is by air.
This is viable when the goods have to be at their destinations as soon as possible. Though expensive when compared to other forms of freight transportation, it is the fastest. However, the cost can be offset when the timely delivery of such goods is paramount to the business.
The intermodal shipping involves the use of an intermodal container, and in this case, uses more than one mode of transportation – rail, ship and truck. This takes place without the handling of the shipment itself, especially when changing the mode of transport. This actually eliminates damage to the goods, ensures security of goods and is faster. Transportation by rails is really an ally to road transport.
International shipping companies use all the different combinations of the transport means available to ensure that the goods arrive at their destinations effectively and timely as well. A lot of times too, they are usually in agreement with other service providers in the freight transport business to manage certain aspects involved in the delivery of the goods to their destinations.
It actually works this way: trucks could transport the goods to the seaport; they are carried by ships to a specified location where they are unloaded unto another truck to the final location.
So as goods move from one part of the world to another, they could go through different means, ranging from transportation via rail and use of trucks, to air transportation. Intermodal shipping combines two or more of these means.
