Saskatchewan's inter-modal facilities (IMFs) enhance the movement of goods through efficient and seamless methods of transferring containers between trains and commercial trucks. In Saskatchewan, because of its geographical nature of highly populated urban hubs and less populated rural spokes there is an economic advantage for rail to cooperate with the trucking industry instead of competing. At a hub, freight is consolidated into larger flows that are routed to other larger hubs by high frequency, high capacity transportation services like rail. Rail dominates in the long distance bulk commodity marketplace where trucks are less efficient and where transit times are less of a concern. Lower frequency services are operated between closer hubs and consumer-destination terminals, in smaller communities, would be best served by commercial trucks. Many of these locations are no longer serviced by main rail or short line service. Trucking dominates in the short distance, time-sensitive, small shipment marketplace. Because of its flexibility and efficiency, trucking is ideally suited for the just in time movement of high value added manufactured goods. It will be eventually the cooperation between trucking and rail that will determine the success for intermodal transportation in Saskatchewan. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD number E217481.
Abstract