Sustainable intermodal transportation of prefabricated construction materials

Non-sustainable transportation is a great part of the stress that human activities put on the environment. Transportation of construction material are today performed all but exclusively by road, a mode that is cheap and fast, but at the same time heavy on emissions. In light of this, the effects of a modal change from road to combined road/rail transportation are studied from the viewpoint of a case company producing prefabricated concrete units. The study includes economic and environmental as well as operational effects. A case study is performed at the producing company by looking at actual invoices and delivery orders for the present mode of transportations. To assess the present operations, an intermodal alternative was created and studied. The comparison clearly shows that the environmental impact of the intermodal transportation is only a fraction of that of the road transportation. However, intermodal transportation is less cost efficient, flexible and reliable. The results imply the construction industry as a whole could lessen its environmental impact by employing intermodal transportation, however, without changes in regulations and policies to negate the economic disadvantage, intermodal transportation in its current state will not be a viable option for the studied company.