由 caicai8478 Multimodal transport, as the “backbone” of modern logistics, undoubtedly possesses value and potential. However, this “backbone” has not had a smooth journey in its growth and operation. It faces severe challenges from multiple aspects, including infrastructure, operational coordination, data connectivity, and green transformation. Recognizing these pain points and finding solutions is key to unleashing its full potential.
I. Core Opportunities: Why is Multimodal Transport the Future?
Before discussing the challenges, we must clarify the enormous opportunities it faces, which are both the driving force for development and the source of its value in solving problems.
Globalization and the Need for Supply Chain Resilience: In the post-pandemic era, enterprises place greater emphasis on the resilience and flexibility of their supply chains. Multimodal transport, through route diversification, can effectively mitigate the risks of relying on a single mode of transport, making it a core means of building a robust global supply chain.
E-commerce and Consumption Upgrading: The explosive growth of cross-border e-commerce has placed higher demands on end-to-end logistics efficiency, cost, and visibility. Multimodal transport is the infrastructure to meet this demand for cross-border e-commerce.
Strong support from national strategies: Both China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Europe’s Transcontinental Transport Network (TEN-T) regard multimodal transport as a key tool, providing significant policy and financial support to improve trade facilitation.
An inevitable choice for green and low-carbon development: The transportation industry faces increasing carbon emission pressure. Shifting long-haul truck transport to more energy-efficient rail or waterway is one of the most effective paths for the logistics industry to achieve its “dual-carbon” goals.
II. Core Pain Points: Four Major Obstacles in Practice
Despite its promising prospects, multimodal transport still faces many obstacles in practical operation.
Pain Point 1: “Hard Barriers” of Infrastructure and Standards
Poor “Last Mile” Connections: The “micro-circulation” system between ports, railway stations, and road networks is often a bottleneck. Insufficient collection and distribution capacity leads to container accumulation at ports, unable to be quickly transported out.
Standards Barriers: While container standards are relatively uniform, differences remain in the underlying transport documents, data formats, and cargo security inspection standards across regions and modes of transport, leading to complex processes and low efficiency.
Pain Point Two: Soft Disconnects in Coordination and Responsibility
The Coordination Dilemma of “Nine Dragons Governing the Waters”: Behind the “one-ticket-to-the-end” system lies complex collaboration among multiple carriers, including sea, rail, and road transport. Delays at any stage can trigger a chain reaction, and responsibility is difficult to clearly define, easily leading to finger-pointing.
Complex Legal and Insurance Systems: Different modes of transport are subject to different international conventions and domestic laws (e.g., sea transport follows the Hague Rules, road transport follows the CMR Convention), making the application of law and the claims process extremely cumbersome in the event of cargo damage.
Pain Point Three: The “Island Effect” of Data and Information
Information Lack of Transparency: Once goods enter the rail or sea transport chain, they are essentially placed in a “black box,” with cargo owners unable to obtain accurate real-time location and status information. The information systems of sea, rail, and road transport are not interconnected, forming data silos.
Low Documentation Efficiency: The system still heavily relies on paper documents such as bills of lading and waybills, resulting in slow processing, easy loss, and difficulty in verification, severely impacting customs clearance and cargo collection efficiency.
Pain Point Four: The Dilemma of Balancing Cost and Green Development
Initial Costs and Structural Costs: Building a multimodal transport system requires significant infrastructure investment. Simultaneously, transshipment, storage, and waiting between different modes of transport incur additional costs, and poor management can negate its cost advantages.
Pressure of Green Transition: While multimodal transport itself is more environmentally friendly, port and terminal loading and unloading equipment (such as gantry cranes and container trucks) still heavily utilizes diesel fuel, creating new centralized emissions problems and facing environmental assessment pressures.
III. Solutions: Building a Future-Oriented Smart Ecosystem
To address these challenges, governments, industries, and enterprises need to collaborate systematically to find solutions at the hardware, software, and regulatory levels.
Solution 1: Strengthen “Hard Connectivity” and Optimize Hub Nodes
Promote “Hub Upgrades”: Invest in and construct seamlessly integrated logistics hubs, achieving physical integration of ports, railway stations, and highway ports within the same industrial park, reducing intermediate handling links.
Develop Specialized Equipment: Promote the use of specialized equipment such as dual-purpose road-rail trailers and railway flatcars to further improve transshipment efficiency.
Solution 2: Implement “Single Bill of Lading” and Simplify Rules and Procedures
Explore “Single Bill of Lading”: Promote the establishment of multimodal transport bills of lading with title deed functions, achieving “one-time entrustment, one-time settlement, and one bill of lading to the end,” fundamentally solving the problem of legal and liability division.
Promote Unified Rules: At the international and domestic levels, promote trade facilitation, such as implementing “single window” customs clearance and standardized data elements, reducing the duplication of documents and inspections.
Solution Three: Building a “Digital Chain” to Break Down Information Silos
Building a Public Information Platform: Led by the government or industry alliances, construct national or regional multimodal transport public information platforms, mandating or encouraging all parties to connect, achieving real-time, transparent, and traceable tracking of the entire logistics process.
Embracing New Technologies: Apply Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and blockchain technologies. IoT sensors monitor cargo status; blockchain ensures the immutability and efficient flow of data such as waybills and customs documents.
Solution Four: Focusing on “Greening” to Promote Sustainable Development
Clean Energy: Promote the use of electric trucks, hydrogen-powered trucks, and “oil-to-electric” conversions of gantry cranes in ports and hubs to reduce carbon emissions at hub nodes.
Model Optimization: Through big data and artificial intelligence, design optimal multimodal transport routes for enterprises, optimizing not only costs and time but also carbon emissions, achieving a win-win situation for both economic and environmental benefits.
Summary and Outlook:
The journey of multimodal transport is a profound transformation from “physical connection” to “system integration.” The challenges are formidable, but the opportunities are even more enticing. The multimodal transport of the future will no longer be a simple combination of transportation modes, but a smart logistics ecosystem comprised of standardized infrastructure, a digital nervous system, and unified business rules. Only by connecting these key elements can the “skeleton” of modern logistics become more robust, efficient, and environmentally friendly, truly supporting the vigorous development of the global economy.