The development of multimodal transport relies on unit segmentation

　　The concept of intermodal transport has been proposed in China for many years, aiming for seamless connection between various freight modes such as road, rail, water, and air. However, its progress has been slow. The core of intermodal transport lies in container turnover. Although railway cargo suitable for containers exceeds 10% of the total transport volume, only about 2-3% is actually packed into containers for transport. The proportion of container turnover in the total turnover of railway freight does not exceed 5%; the volume of container sea-rail intermodal transport only accounts for about 1.5% of the national port throughput, with Dalian Port, ranked first, accounting for 3.75% of its total container throughput, followed by Qingdao Port with only 1.77%.

　　The government, China Railway Corporation (CRC), and ports are not unaware of the problems, nor do they fail to recognize the efficiency improvements and logistics cost reductions that intermodal transport can bring. The "Several Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Logistics Shortcomings, Promoting Effective Investment and Resident Consumption," issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on March 3 this year, points out the need to strengthen the construction of intermodal transport facilities and improve cargo transfer efficiency; the "Implementation Plan on Promoting the Improvement of Transportation Quality and Efficiency and Enhancing Supply and Service Capacity," jointly issued by the NDRC and the Ministry of Transport on June 6 this year, further emphasizes the vigorous promotion of through transport to achieve seamless connection in transport organization, leverage the combined advantages of different transport modes, improve transport efficiency, and reduce social logistics costs. Cheng Xiandong, director of the CRC Transportation Bureau, also stressed in a signed article published at the beginning of the year the need to make new breakthroughs in the development of containerized transport, aiming to reach 20% of total freight volume within 3 to 5 years.

　　Policies seem to be in place, and determination is strong, but implementation is not easy, as the short-term return on investment for each independent investor is not obvious, and they may even lose money. Railways, ports, and even aviation have a strong desire for intermodal transport because they lack "door-to-door" road transport connections; however, road transport, another major player in intermodal transport, is not proactive. According to statistics, in 2015, the total freight volume completed by the whole society was 45.02 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%, while the freight volume completed by road increased by 6.4%, exceeding the 4.4% increase in the total freight volume of the whole society, and also exceeding the 5.2% increase in aviation, the 3.7% increase in water transport, and the -13.7% increase in railway. Even without the support of intermodal transport, road logistics does not lack competitiveness and profitability. To promote the implementation of the intermodal transport system, the railway, whose efficiency is declining, should be the industry that takes the lead.

　　Low node efficiency is one of the key problems currently existing in intermodal transport. Even if the CRC achieves its goal of 20% of total freight volume being containerized freight, it is difficult to solve the "door-to-door" logistics full chain service capacity. Because transferring containers from railway freight to road trucks for quick loading and unloading is relatively easy, but transferring them to urban distribution "door-to-door" special vehicles involves complex operations and low efficiency in sorting, unpacking, and packing; transferring containers from trucks and ships to railway cars involves the problem of unified standards for single-box weight balance, seriously affecting railway operational safety; of course, there is also the problem of difficulty in recycling self-provided containers, making it difficult for them to circulate in the network.

　　To solve this problem, it is necessary to start from the advantages and disadvantages of railway freight, making the most of its strengths and avoiding its weaknesses. The author has summarized the advantages of railway freight as its operating network, vast assets and historical reputation, and all-weather operational safety; while the weaknesses lie in relatively backward hardware and software, lack of information connection with society, random and unguaranteed transport time, and serious lack of grassroots enterprise service awareness. The advantage of the railway's vast operating network makes it possible to promote the standardization of intermodal transport rapid transfer facilities, equipment, and technology, as well as equipment standardization and green recyclable turnover.

　　During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the railway will invest 2.8 trillion yuan to expand the railway infrastructure network, build a comprehensive transportation system organically connected with roads, waterways, and aviation, and expand the cargo distribution network, including container centers and terminal distribution. It is conceivable that the railway can build a self-contained logistics industry chain ecosystem dominated by railway freight logistics and attracting investment from all parties, making the intermodal transport equipment standards planned and designed by the railway first become a landmark achievement and competitive weapon of railway freight reform.

　　Railways can rely on the joint construction of public-rail intermodal logistics parks covering the entire network with local governments and enterprises, focusing on the most profitable and high-yield express delivery, cold chain, and general cargo markets as major competitive niches, developing and researching suitable containerized railway-specific combination boxes and supporting ground distribution vehicles, establishing an automated and efficient sorting system, and achieving railway-led professional logistics distribution services.

　　The revenue of railway freight in 2015 was only 231.21 billion yuan, and it decreased at a rate of -10%, while the revenue of the express delivery market in 2015 reached 276.96 billion yuan, of which 70% was long-distance express delivery, and it maintained a high growth rate of 40%. However, railway freight must establish a breakthrough advantage with core technologies to quickly enter the express delivery market and gain a competitive advantage.

　　"Door-to-door" terminal transport vehicles in the express delivery industry currently mainly use three-wheeled vehicles, or even motorcycles and electric bicycles. The "ban on motorcycles and restrictions on electric vehicles" policy, which is gradually becoming popular starting from Shenzhen, may squeeze out new four-wheeled new energy delivery vehicles, and the State Post Bureau is also standardizing the corresponding terminal delivery vehicle standards; from node city logistics parks to urban collection points, due to restrictions on urban traffic policies, mainly small delivery trucks are used, which, like aviation containers and road containers, require disassembly and sorting; in addition, express packaging waste is alarming. In 2015, 8.26 billion plastic bags, 9.9 billion boxes, and 16.95 billion meters of tape were consumed, with the tape length enough to circle the earth's equator 425 times. The express delivery industry urgently needs green packaging and recyclable packaging, but it has been hampered by the high cost of recyclable packaging due to the inability to form a circulation network.

　　The railway's vast network coverage and self-circulation system have the advantage of green circulation. The logistics industry chain ecosystem dominated by the railway can enable the railway to take the lead in developing special combination boxes within containers, seamlessly connecting public-rail intermodal logistics parks and urban collection points, collection points and end customers, with combinable, detachable, splicable, and circulating sub-warehousing and distribution units, and developing corresponding standard warehousing and distribution trucks, terminal delivery standard vehicles, and automated sorting systems and comprehensive information service platforms suitable for intermodal transport special combination boxes.

　　Special combination boxes are unit divisions of containers, which can also be called smaller containers. The container is one of the ten greatest inventions of the 20th century. It is a universal standard connecting road, rail, water, and air transport invented by truck drivers. Its unit is called TEU, which stands for 20-foot unit, referring to the external dimensions of 20x8x8 feet 6 inches. Special combination boxes use smaller sizes suitable for the smallest terminal delivery vehicles, and have the ability to quickly connect and detach from each other.

　　However, if the container cannot be circulated and reused, the cost will increase dramatically; once a recyclable circulating body is formed, it will not only improve the efficiency of changing containers, ensure the safety of the contents, and reduce logistics time, but more importantly, it can greatly reduce logistics packaging costs. In that case, the competitive advantage of railway freight in the express delivery industry, and even the cold chain and general cargo markets, will be immediately apparent, and it will also drive the vigorous development of intermodal transport throughout society.

　　(Source: Economic Information Daily)