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A Review of “The Future ofIntermodal Freight Transport:Operations, Design, and Policy”Andrew R. Goetz aa Department of Geography , University of Denver ,Denver, COPublished online: 23 Mar 2010.

To cite this article: Andrew R. Goetz (2010) A Review of “The Future of IntermodalFreight Transport: Operations, Design, and Policy”, The Professional Geographer, 62:2,298-300, DOI: 10.1080/00330121003600934

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00330121003600934

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either–or dichotomies that force exclusiveand artificial choices of a sweeping nature,as exemplified by a question that asks, “Isthe objective [of studying global perspectives]to further geographical understanding or toencourage young people to think in a particularway about the topic of consideration?” (p.114). Questions such as this can certainly servea useful purpose of bringing issues into highrelief, but they also risk building distortedcomparisons. In this example, the globalperspective approach seems to be compared tosome mythically neutral geographical educa-tion that presumably and improbably does notfoster thinking is any particular way. Anotherexample is the statement that the purpose ofa global perspective approach is to encourage“self-reflection and personal engagement withan issue rather than exploration [of the issue]in a specific geographical and political setting”(p. 127, emphasis added), a statement thatinvites the insinuation that self-reflection andpersonal engagement might be incompatiblewith understanding geographical and politicalsettings. A second rhetorical device used inthe book is conflation of issues that might berelated but should nonetheless be considereddiscretely, as exemplified by an unexaminedlinkage between seeing “the world throughmultiple perspectives” and viewing “all per-spectives as equally valid” (p. 105). Surely, itmust be possible to retain the former withoutthe latter. A third concern is the chronic useof hyperbole. Again using a representativeexample, the declaration that “global politicshas all but killed the right of nation states to de-termine what takes place within their nationalboundaries” (p. 166) is a clear overstatement inlight of such countries like Burma and Sudanas obvious examples and less conspicuous casessuch as China and Venezuela that illustratehow countries might not be immune to globalinfluences but can still exercise considerablecontrol over their own internal affairs.

On balance, this book’s argument possessesconsiderable merit and deserves serious consid-eration for at least two reasons. First, it raises animportant caution about the need to maintainbalance in geography education. Geographycertainly provides students with fundamentalknowledge of the world, understanding ofspecific geographical and political contexts,and crucial spatial and place-based principles

and concepts that form a comprehensive andsystematic means for comprehending theworld. Yet the subject also offers opportunitiesfor understanding and appreciating differenceand diversity, for acknowledging global inter-dependencies, for considering responsibilitiesto distant others, and for contributing to theimprovement of the human capacity to reachacross sociocultural, national and political,and even physical and environmental dividesto improve understanding and build a moreharmonious world. By highlighting the needfor balance among such disparate elements,Standish makes a strong contribution withthis book. The second important contributionis a vision for geography’s ability to “en-gender in students a sense of wonder at theworld around them . . . [that] leads to a questfor knowledge . . . [and] an ‘amazement at thestructure of things and our capacity to grasp thisstructure ourselves’ ” (p. 191). Perhaps the mostimportant intrinsic value that geography pos-sesses is to inspire and develop this multifacetedsense of awe and wonder about the world thatemerges from knowledge, understanding,and experience with that world. Likewise,perhaps the most important contribution thatAlex Standish makes with this book is first areminder of the reason that many of us becamegeographers and geography educators in thefirst place—our abiding and enthralling fasci-nation with the world—and second, an encour-agement to share and convey, to the best of ourabilities, some sense of that fascination to ourstudents and to others in the world around us.Key Words: geography, geography education,global, global citizenship, global perspectives.

ReferenceMorshead, R. W. 1995. Patterns of educational prac-

tice: Theories of curriculum. Ann Arbor, MI: PierianPress.

The Future of Intermodal Freight Trans-port: Operations, Design, and Policy. RobKonings, Hugo Priemus, and Peter Nijkamp,eds. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2008.xi and 343 pp., maps, diagrams, photos,notes, and index. $140.00 cloth (ISBN 978-1-84542-238-7).

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Book Reviews 299

Reviewed by Andrew R. Goetz, Department ofGeography, University of Denver, Denver,CO.

This book is part of an Edward Elgar serieson Transport Economics, Management, andPolicy, edited by Kenneth Button. Several ofthe books in this series focus on freight trans-portation, and this book extends that focusthrough a look at the future of intermodalfreight transport.

Intermodalism has received an increasingamount of attention in the last ten to twentyyears for a number of reasons. First, the growthof international trade has led to sharp increasesin the volume of goods transported around theworld. Much of this freight movement is beingfacilitated by more efficient and coordinatedlinkages between different modes of trans-port, which is the essence of intermodalism.By more effectively linking different modesof transport, an intermodal approach can takeadvantage of modal strengths while minimiz-ing modal weaknesses. Second, certain techno-logical innovations, such as containerization,large gantry cranes, and double-stacking ofcontainers on rail cars, have made intermodalmovements easier, cheaper, and faster. Third,changes in governmental regulatory policieshave made it easier for trucking, rail, mar-itime, and air cargo companies to coordinateservices, through the help of freight forwarders,intermodal marketing companies, and third-party logistics providers. Governments havealso been promoting intermodal approaches,especially involving rail or water for longer haulmovements, to help relieve some of the trafficcongestion caused by increasing truck volumeon highways and roadways.

Accordingly, this book is a timely contribu-tion to the emerging literature on intermodalfreight transport. The editors (Rob Konings,Hugo Priemus, and Peter Nijkamp) haveassembled a strong cast of authors who havewritten very informative chapters in eachof the book’s principal parts: (1) intermodaltransport operations, (2) design and modeling,and (3) implementation and policy. In the firstchapter, the editors provide an overview of thebook and preview each of the chapters. I foundit surprising, however, that the editors statedthat, “The market share of intermodal freighttransport is relatively low and is not showing a

spectacular increase” (p. 1), which is understat-ing the role of intermodalism. This statementmight describe the position of domestic freightintermodalism within Europe, but it is notthe case in North America, or in internationaltransport, where freight intermodal activity hasbeen and continues to be more robust. Thisdiscrepancy could also be a product of the waythat intermodal activity has traditionally beenmeasured by transportation statistics agenciesand thus could be underestimating the true im-pact that intermodalism has had in the freightsector. Just considering the significant increasein the volume of containers shipped worldwide,though, a fact that is acknowledged in many ofthe chapters in this book, should underscorethe importance of freight intermodal transport.

The next three chapters provide an overviewof freight intermodal operations in Europe, theUnited States, and Japan. Johan Woxenius andFredrik Barthel discuss intermodal road–railtransport in the European Union, Lata Chat-terjee and T. R. Lakshmanan present the stateof intermodal freight transport in the UnitedStates, and Eiichi Taniguchi and ToshinoriNemoto discuss intermodal freight transport inJapanese urban areas. These are all very infor-mative chapters that provide the reader with agood understanding of the state of intermodal-ism within the freight transport system of eachof these areas. I was disappointed that there wasonly one Asian contribution in this section (andin the book overall), especially given the impor-tance of China in international goods move-ment, as well as the fact that the two largestcontainer ports in the world are in Hong Kongand Singapore. The last two chapters in theOperations part are more focused discussionsof intermodal transport operations in the hin-terlands of seaports (written by Theo Notte-boom) and the quality of container terminalservices (written by Bart Wiegmans, Peter Ni-jkamp, and Piet Rietveld).

In the second part of the book, the emphasisshifts to more technical issues, including de-sign and modeling of intermodal facilities inports and terminals. Joan Rijsenbrij discusseshow terminal handling systems will need tochange to accommodate the increasing scaleof intermodal operations at mainports. Klaus-Peter Franke explores the Agile Port Systemconcept, which separates cargo handling ac-tivities between inland intermodal interface

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centers and on-dock marine terminal activities.Given the sharp increase in the volume of con-tainer flow, and constraints on land area at ma-rine terminals, large inland intermodal centersare increasingly being developed for the pur-pose of sorting, reloading, and shipping con-tainers by rail or truck to their destinations.Ekki Kreutzberger analyzes how innovativeapproaches to freight bundling within net-works can result in improved efficiencies.Arne Jensen takes a step back and provides abroader perspective by discussing conceptualand methodological frameworks for the de-sign of intermodal transport systems, incorpo-rating the concepts of significant, sustainablecompetitive advantage and market entry ability.Finally, Florian Schwarz describes modelingapproaches for intermodal freight networks,with a special focus on models using geographicinformation systems. He then offers a newapproach for modeling seaport hinterlandcontainer traffic relying on both geographicinformation and detailed processes within in-termodal transport chains.

The final part of the book turns to consid-erations of implementation and policy. BryanStone traces the historical development of in-termodalism in Europe and the United States,often comparing and contrasting their expe-riences. He details and laments the problemsof interconnectivity and interoperability, par-ticularly in the European domestic rail con-text, which hinder the further developmentof the intermodal freight system. Marielleden Hengst discusses the importance of in-terorganizational coordination within inter-modal freight transport, especially the role ofinformation and communication technology(ICT). The last two chapters discuss strate-gies for fostering freight intermodal devel-opment in Europe and the United States,respectively. Dimitrios Tsamboulas profilesboth top-down (European Commission) andbottom-up (individual carriers, shippers, andother market actors) initiatives to improve theEuropean freight intermodal system. Finally,Jose Holguin-Veras, Robert Paaswell, and An-thony Perl analyze the factors that have im-peded intermodal innovation initiatives in theUnited States, identifying the following as thekey challenges: (1) government–private indus-try dynamics, (2) size and geographic factors,(3) lack of identification between private indus-

try success and national economic objectives,and (4) mismatched planning horizons.

With more attention now focused on build-ing and maintaining transport infrastructurearound the world, this book is a welcome ad-dition to the literature on freight intermodaltransport. It provides a good overview of thestate of intermodalism in Europe, the UnitedStates, and Japan and also discusses importantdesign and policy issues. I would have likedto see more information about the growingAsian region, especially China, which is build-ing an enormous amount of freight transportinfrastructure and in many ways is driving thegrowth of international trade and intermodalfreight transport. I also felt that this book wasjust a little dated; the latest references citedwere in 2003. Nevertheless, this is an impor-tant and informative book and should be ofinterest to geographers and others who wantto learn more about logistics, distribution, andintermodal freight transport.Key Words: intermodal freight transport, mar-itime, rail, truck.

Restructuring the Philadelphia Region:Metropolitan Divisions and Inequality.Carolyn Adams, David Bartelt, David Elesh,and Ira Goldstein. Philadelphia: TempleUniversity Press, 2008. xii and 224 pp., maps,diagrams, and bibliography. $25.95 paper(ISBN 1-59213-897-5).

Reviewed by Kristen B. Crossney, Departmentof Geography and Planning, West ChesterUniversity, West Chester, PA.

Fifteen years ago, Philadelphia: Neighborhoods,Division, and Conflict in a Postindustrial City(Adams et al. 1993) focused on urban inequal-ity issues of an industrial city struggling un-der post-Fordism. The authors have chosenonce more to focus on Philadelphia in Re-structuring the Philadelphia Region: MetropolitanDivisions and Inequality, but importantly, theanalysis now extends beyond the City ofPhiladelphia and across the surrounding eight-county region. This book is not focused onwhat should be happening across the regionbut alternatively provides a well-grounded andthorough examination of existing geographicinequalities and coping strategies. “Geographicpatterns of privilege and disadvantage confer

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