Includes indexes.

Front Cover -- Intermodal Freight Transportation -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- About the authors -- Preface -- Chapter 1: Forces shaping the freight transport sector -- 1.1 Positioning the freight transport sector -- 1.2 Drivers and trends in logistics and supply chain management -- References -- Further reading -- Chapter 2: Understanding the freight transport sector -- 2.1 Transport agents -- 2.1.1 Exporter and importer -- 2.1.2 Shipper and receiver -- 2.1.3 Consignor and consignee -- 2.1.4 Freight forwarder -- 2.1.5 Transport company -- 2.1.6 Terminal operator -- 2.1.7 Freight integrators -- 2.1.8 Customs authorities and other governmental agencies -- 2.1.9 National and international regulatory agencies -- 2.2 Demand for freight transport services -- 2.2.1 Basics on mode choice -- 2.2.2 The notion of transport logistic cost -- 2.3 Supply of freight transport services -- 2.3.1 Comparing modes of transport -- 2.3.2 Underlying factors for the success of road transport -- 2.4 Characterization of the main products carried -- 2.4.1 Road transport -- 2.4.2 Rail transport -- 2.4.3 Waterway transport (sea and inland) -- 2.4.4 Air transport -- References -- Further reading -- Chapter 3: Introduction to freight transport chains -- 3.1 Various concepts of freight transport chains -- 3.2 Call for intermodal transport -- 3.3 Conceptual representation of intermodal freight transport -- References -- Further reading -- Chapter 4: Intermodal transport process -- 4.1 Definition of process -- 4.2 Processes in intermodal transport -- 4.2.1 Subprocess 1: Negotiation and configuration -- 4.2.2 Subprocess 2: Transport -- 4.3 Intermodal freight transport as set of flows -- 4.3.1 Physical flow -- 4.3.2 Logical flow -- 4.3.3 Contractual flow -- 4.3.4 Capital flow -- 4.4 Depicting the performance of an intermodal freight transport service.

4.5 Conceptual formulation for integration in intermodal transport -- 4.5.1 The concept of fitness -- 4.5.4.1 A review of the concept of fitness -- 4.5.4.2 Defining fitness -- 4.5.2 The concept of friction in intermodal freight transport services -- 4.5.3 Depicting fitness and friction -- 4.5.3.1 Types of fitness -- 4.5.3.1.1 Physical fitness -- 4.5.3.1.2 Logical fitness -- 4.5.3.1.3 Liability fitness -- 4.5.3.1.4 Financial fitness -- 4.5.3.1.5 Strategic fitness -- 4.5.3.2 Tiers of friction -- 4.5.4 The conceptual framework -- 4.6 Cost of modal integration -- 4.6.1 Cost structure of the freight forwarder -- 4.6.2 Cost of the transport services (plus the cost of transshipment operations) -- 4.6.3 Cost of modal integration -- 4.6.4 Conclusion -- 4.7 Barriers and challenges to the production of intermodal transport -- References -- Further reading -- Chapter 5: Freight transport modeling and simulation -- 5.1 Fundamentals of modeling -- 5.2 Agent and ABM's roots -- 5.3 What is ABM? -- 5.3.1 Definition -- 5.3.2 Scope and conditions of applicability -- 5.3.3 Advantages -- 5.3.3.1 ABM captures emergent phenomena -- 5.3.3.2 ABM provides a natural description of a system -- 5.3.3.3 ABM is flexible -- 5.3.4 Constraints -- 5.4 Basic description of ABM components -- 5.4.1 Agents -- 5.4.2 Interactions -- 5.4.3 Environment -- 5.5 ABM models and development toolkits -- 5.6 ABM in transport -- 5.7 The choice of ABM for simulating freight transport chains -- References -- Chapter 6: Building intermodal freight transport services -- 6.1 Assumptions for the model -- 6.2 Model architecture -- 6.2.1 Environment -- 6.2.2 Agents -- 6.2.2.1 Cognitive agents -- 6.2.2.1.1 Shippers -- 6.2.2.1.2 Freight forwarders -- 6.2.2.1.3 Air transport company -- 6.2.2.1.4 Land-based transport company -- 6.2.2.2 Noncognitive agents -- 6.2.3 Engines.

6.2.3.1 Phase 1-Fuzzy logic inference mechanismo -- 6.2.3.2 Phase 2-Identification of the transport solution winner -- 6.2.4 Interactions -- 6.2.4.1 Physical -- 6.2.4.2 Informational -- 6.2.4.3 Legal -- 6.2.4.4 Financial -- 6.3 Verification and validation of ABM models -- References -- Chapter 7: Experiments for model validation -- 7.1 Design of the experiments -- 7.1.1 Competitiveness variable -- 7.1.2 Type of shippers -- 7.1.3 Type of markets -- 7.1.4 Type and amount of experiments -- 7.1.5 Price variation -- 7.1.6 Time of simulation and number of runs -- 7.1.7 Properties of cognitive agents and noncognitive agents -- 7.1.7.1 Shipper -- 7.1.7.2 Freight forwarder -- 7.1.7.3 Air transport companies -- 7.1.7.4 Road transport company -- 7.1.7.5 Terminal agent -- 7.2 Results -- 7.2.1 Base Case -- 7.2.2 Physical Fitness Case -- 7.2.2.1 Modifications in the production brought by the change in the fitness -- 7.2.2.1.1 Modifications in TransFreight -- 7.2.2.1.2 Results -- 7.2.3 Logical Fitness Case -- 7.2.3.1 Modifications in the production brought about by changes in the fitness -- 7.2.3.2 Modifications in TransFreight -- 7.2.3.3 Results -- 7.2.4 Strategic Fitness Case: Schedule coordination -- 7.2.4.1 Modifications in the production brought by a change in the fitness -- 7.2.4.2 Modifications in TransFreight -- 7.2.4.3 Results -- 7.3 Final discussion -- References -- Chapter 8: Conclusions -- Author index -- Subject index -- Back Cover.