ABSTRACT
This chapter describes inter-modalism as being the process of moving goods by more than one transport mode in a single loading unit such as containers. Inter-modal transport has many advantages, proven by its success in such areas as container traffic. Compared to the one-mode transport, the combination of two or several transportation modes has lowered both costs and transit times for goods and improved the quality of transport services. In international shipping and logistics, seaports can be treated as maritime logistics centres where they provide logistics services at the seashore and shore-land interfaces. Modern logistics centres also offer information management services to customers such as real-time tracking and tracing for cargo distribution and inventory levels, on-line documentation and payment services, and other information related to customs clearance and administrative procedures. Physical and capacity constraints at berths, along with the trend of optimisation and standardisation of quay-side operations, suggest that more focus must now be placed on land-interface logistics operations.
