"This book provides an overview of intermodal transport and logistics including the policy background, emerging industry trends and academic approaches. Establishing the three key features of intermodal transport geography as intermodal terminals, inland logistics and hinterland corridors, Jason Monios takes an institutional approach to understanding the difficulties of successful intermodal transport and logistics. Key areas of investigation include the policy and planning background, the roles of public and private stakeholders and the identification of emerging strategy conflicts"--Provided by publisher
While the features of successful policy transfer are well known, there is some evidence that increase in policy transfer is associated with convergence of not just policies but institutional and organisational forms. Institutional isomorphism is often a result of copying organisational form as a way of securing legitimacy rather than seeking successful policy outcomes. It is also influenced by the convergence of the neoliberal paradigm over recent decades which decreases the likelihood of selecting or implementing disruptive policies. This paper interrogates policy transfer as both a normative process of sharing 'best practice' and a mimetic process of copying organisational form in order to secure legitimacy. There is a danger that, rather than focusing on good implementation of existing policies, new policies are continually sought, which is often encouraged by isomorphic institutional forms driven by political motivations to reduce public responsibilities for unsuccessful or unpopular policies. The aim of this paper is to develop the conceptual tools for analysis of how and when policy transfer becomes policy churn and the role of institutionally isomorphic tendencies in this transition.
The UK's highly privatised port system means that, while many of the issues in the port governance literature relevant to port concessions do not arise here, the respective roles of harbour authorities and port operators continue to be questioned. The concern in the UK is whose role it should be to monitor the capacity and service quality of the port sector, including how to govern the ways in which the different classes of port stakeholder interact.This paper describes and discusses the UK port sector, the main ports and cargo types, the governance system and recent developments. Recent changes in national policy are reviewed and potential new developments in governance are considered, reflecting on how the UK case represents some key theoretical considerations regarding infrastructure governance within a modern political system favouring private ownership and operation of the transport sector.
AbstractThis paper examines the development of intermodal transport operations at freight villages in Italy. Quantitative data on public and private investment and ownership in each of the 25 Italian freight villages are analysed to identify relevant issues, which are then explored through five qualitative case studies. The research considers how intermodal transport stimulation links national modal shift policy with regional economic development strategies based on the promotion of logistics growth. The research identifies a misalignment between national and regional scales, as funding based on national policy does not align with port and freight village planning strategies developed at the regional level. From an operational perspective, this misalignment is exacerbated by the often adversarial relations between ports and intermodal terminals, in addition to the fragmented nature of the Italian freight sector. Even with a national policy to promote freight villages with intermodal terminals and a dedicated funding stream to support this network of approved sites, operational issues mean that establishing intermodal shuttles remains a difficult and marginal enterprise, particularly in the case of southern Italy due to its location on the periphery of intra‐European freight flows.
1. Geographies of maritime transport / Gordon Wilmsmeier and Jason Monios -- 2. The geography of maritime trade : globalisation and beyond / Gordon Wilmsmeier and Jason Monios -- 3. GDP and international seaborne trade: past trends, present breaks and future directions / Siri Pettersen Strandenes and Helen A. Thanopoulou -- 4. Geography versus topology in the evolution of the global container shipping network (1977-2016) / César Ducruet, Justin Berli and Mattia Bunel -- 5. The geography of commodity flows : the bulk sector / Theodora Koukaki and Alessio Tei -- 6. Commodity supply networks as complex adaptive systems : how commodity and freight markets respond to a supply shock / Wouter Jacobs and Robert Horster -- 7. The Panama and Suez Canals : re-engineered to be competitive / Rodolfo Sabonge and Ricardo J. Sánchez -- 8. Belts and Roads : The geopolitics and transport geography of the China-European seaborne trade / Claes G. Alvstam -- 9. Short-distance maritime geographies : short sea shipping, RoRo, feeder and inter-island transport / Anastasia Christodoulou and Johan Woxenius -- 10. Transport on international rivers : a model of governance for the commons? / Cécile Tournaye -- 11. The changing geography of cruise shipping / Athanasios A. Pallis and George Vaggelas -- 12. Container shipping : beyond the era of maturity? / Gordon Wilmsmeier and Jason Monios -- 13. Is there a case for state ownership in ports and shipping? / Peter de Langen and Henrik Sornn-Friese -- 14. Financial operators in port infrastructures : typologies, objectives and global strategies / Giovanni Satta, Francesco Parola, Enrico Musso and Francesco Vitellaro -- 15. Development models and policies for maritime clusters / Wei Zhang, Jasmine Siu Lee Lam and Kevin X. Li -- 16. Attractiveness of port-centric advanced logistics clusters / Mina Akhavan, Hilda Ghiara, Ilaria Mariotti, Enrico Musso and Cécile Sillig -- 17. Assessing the strategic role of inland ports in urban freight policy : an application to the port of Brussels / Geoffrey Aerts, Michaël Dooms, Elvira Haezendonck and Mychal Langenus -- 18. International shipping and climate change: policy responses and implications for the maritime industry / Michele Acciaro and Alan McKinnon -- 19. Shipping and the environment : how environmental challenges impact on the shipping network / Theodora Koukaki and Alessio Tei -- 20. Arctic sea routes : a new geography for shipping (346) / Gordon Wilmsmeier.
"The central concerns of mobilities research - exploring the broader context and human aspects of movement - are fundamental to an understanding of the maritime freight transport sector. Challenges to the environment, attempts at more sustainable practices, changes in the geoeconomic system, political power, labour, economic development and governance issues are all among the topics covered in this book. The aim of this volume is to address issues of maritime transport not only in the simple context of movement but within the mobilities paradigm. The goal is to examine negative system effects caused by blockages and inefficiencies, examine delays and wastage of resources, identify negative externalities, explore power relations and identify the winners and losers in the globalised trade system with a particular focus on the maritime network. Maritime Mobilities therefore aims to build a bridge between "traditional" maritime academic approaches and the mobilities paradigm. This volume is of great importance to those who study industrial economics, shipping industries and transport geography"--
"The central concerns of mobilities research--exploring the broader context and human aspects of movement - are fundamental to an understanding of the maritime freight transport sector. Challenges to the environment, attempts at more sustainable practices, changes in the geoeconomic system, political power, labour, economic development and governance issues are all among the topics covered in this book. The aim of this volume is to address issues of maritime transport not only in the simple context of movement but within the mobilities paradigm. The goal is to examine negative system effects caused by blockages and inefficiencies, examine delays and wastage of resources, identify negative externalities, explore power relations and identify the winners and losers in the globalised trade system with a particular focus on the maritime network. Maritime Mobilities therefore aims to build a bridge between "traditional" maritime academic approaches and the mobilities paradigm. This volume is of great importance to those who study industrial economics, shipping industries and transport geography."--Provided by publisher
"Much work has been done on port governance yet little has addressed intermodal terminal governance, despite the clear similarities. This book fills that gap by establishing a governance framework for situating analysis of intermodal terminals throughout their life cycle. A version of the product life cycle theory is amended with governance theory to produce a framework covering each stage of the terminal's life cycle, from the initial planning to the many decisions taken regarding the public/private split in funding mechanisms, ownership, selecting an operator, specifying KPIs to the operator, setting fees, earning profit, ensuring fair access to all rail service operators, and finally to reconcessioning the terminal to a new operator, managing the handover and maintaining the terminal throughout its life cycle. An institutional analysis of stakeholder relations, situated within a governance framework, illuminates these issues and enables not only conceptualisation and greater understanding of the geography of intermodal transport, but also decision-making and goal-setting by planners and policy makers"--Provided by publisher
Port development is challenged not only by growing trade flows, but by institutional conditions that are more contextual, exhibiting aspects of both path dependence and contingency. This paper analyses the intersection of two clear trends in the evolution of port systems, decentralisation of port governance and deconcentration of port traffic. The goal is to identify how the institutional setting governing the spatial diversification of container port activity has changed as a result of this intersection and whether it is suitable to deal with new challenges as they arise. An additional question is whether the new institutional settings created by port reform in developing countries are suitable to support the successful application of port devolution policies imported from developed countries with different political and institutional histories.Based on four national case studies of port reform in Latin America, the paper discusses how the interplay between structure and agency in the reform of port governance has in some cases created merely a "new" path dependency. Findings show that short-term gains in technical efficiency in individual ports contrast with a long-term loss of power from the public to the private sector and the lack of integrated transport and logistics policies necessary to support ongoing port development.
Purpose The supply chain literature discusses various models of supply chain collaboration and integration. When applied to logistics, each has been shown to exhibit different levels of success depending on particular factors. This paper examines a strategic alliance between a large shipper and a freight forwarder to provide an intermodal service to and from the port of Gothenburg. Design/methodology/approach The methodology is based on action research and interviews supplemented by document analysis. Findings According to this innovative model, a new entity is not set up but an open-book basis is established, long-term contracts with other parties are signed, risks and profits are shared, and the shipper makes several investments specific to the service. Thus the benefits of a joint venture are obtained without needing to establish a new organisation and thus sacrifice flexibility and independence. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is that it is based on a single case of best practice; it may be difficult to replicate the high levels of trust in other situations. Nevertheless, the evident success of this "virtual joint venture" suggests that some elements are transferable to other cases, and the model may be refined through additional case analysis. Practical implications Results indicate several advantages of this "virtual joint venture" model, including risk sharing, knowledge development, long-term service stability and diversification of activities which all contribute to facilitating the shift of a large customer from road haulage to intermodal transport. Potential challenges mainly relate to contractual complexity. Originality/value This paper identifies an innovative business model for logistics integration that can be used in future in other cases to make modal shift more attractive and successful, which is a key aim of government policy in many countries.
This paper examines the spatial and institutional characteristics of the emerging trend of inland port development in China. The paper analyses a sample of 18 major inland ports in three geographical clusters, comparing observed issues with similar developments in Europe, the United States and Africa. It highlights the issues of customs clearance and intermodal transport, before an extended discussion on conflicting models of development based on the priorities of inland and port actors. The aim is first to provide a descriptive account of this development, and second to provide tentative explanations for these results by comparing the findings with similar developments in other countries. This task is aided by use of a conceptual framework drawn from the literature, in which port-driven and inland-driven inland ports are contrasted. Thus a supplementary aim of the paper is to develop the conceptual model of directional development in a new geographical context. Findings reveal the need to align development priorities of central and local governments, as well as clarifying the use of subsidies to a number of different inland ports which may potentially split economies of scale through increased competition for an overlapping hinterland. The paper demonstrates that, while in the past China's seaports had less inland penetration compared to more mature systems, emerging trends suggest some similarities to patterns observed in more integrated networks such as Europe and North America
This paper compares port hinterland access strategies in the form of intermodal freight corridors connecting ports and inland intermodal terminals. Interviews and site visits were conducted at a number of locations in the United States in order to compare strategies of stakeholder management, planning and policy issues and access to private and public funding.Detailed case studies on the Alameda Corridor, Alameda Corridor East, Norfolk Southern's Heartland Corridor and CSX's National Gateway are presented. The various projects represent corridors of different sizes, objectives and challenges relating to stakeholder management. Furthermore, as government policy in the United States has developed over recent years, ports and railroads have needed to alter their approach to project planning in order to attract public funding of various types, from national to state and local.Results indicate the importance of aligning stakeholder objectives with funding sources and planning schedules. Of particular importance to the development of hinterland access is recent US policy towards the provision of public funding through discretionary funding programmes. These developments are discussed in the context of US transport policy and the difficulties of government involvement in a traditionally privately owned and operated rail industry. Such issues need to be understood in order to limit their constraints on port development options
