The Economics Of Intermodal Transportation Based On The Full Cost Model Of Freight Transportation

Transportation cost is the main factor of the cost of logistics, and is the key point of the economics of transportation. Intermodal freight transportation, which is widely used in the developed nations, including door-to-door transportation, is the high stage of freight transportation and the main mode of container transportation. Developing intermodal transportation could promote the cooperation of the different transportation modes and help the optimization of distribution of transportation resource. And it is significant for the development of international trade and acceleration of economic in China to develop intermodal freight transportation. The low attendance of railway restricts the developing of intermodal transportation in China. Thus the research on the intermodal freight transportation network, the building of full cost model of freight transportation and the study of the economic and competitiveness in the long and mid-distance freight transportation market, would be important for the development of intermodal freight transportation in China.This paper develops a model for calculating comparable combined internal and external costs of intermodal and road freight transport network based on the operation characteristics of both networks. It discussed the necessity of developing intermodal transportation under the international background. The model is applied to the simplified configuration of both networks to compare the different economy and market competitiveness of both networks in Europe and China. The objective is to investigate the economics of intermodal transportation and provide some advices for social policy on the prospective competition between two networks from a social perspective.