A Diversity of Modes

Transport modes are the means by which people and freight are carried. They fall into one of three basic types, depending on over which physical environment they travel – land (road, rail), water (maritime shipping), and air (aviation). Each mode is characterized by a set of technical, operational and commercial characteristics:

A general analysis of transport modes reveals that each possesses key operational and commercial advantages and properties. However, contemporary demand is influenced by integrated transportation systems that require maximum flexibility. As a result, modal competition exists at various degrees and takes several dimensions. Modes can compete or complement each other in terms of cost, speed, accessibility, frequency, safety, comfort, etc. Although intermodal transportation has opened many opportunities for complementarity between modes, there is intense competition as companies are now competing over many modes in the transport chain.

(edited from http://wordiq.com)

3. Read the texts once again and fill in the table.

Mode	Pros	Cons
Rail
Road
Maritime
Air

4. Match pairs of synonyms.

1. constraint a. neighbouring

2. batch b. give

3. confer c. add, perfect

4. friction d. interruption

5. discontinuity e. limitation

6. adjacent f. place, area

7. site g. make easier

8. facilitate h. group

9. complement i. resistance

5. Find the words in the text, which can be defined as following.

1. closely packed together (part 2);

2. ability of an object to float (part 3);

3. a part of a canal or river that is closed off by gate so that the water level can be raised or lowered (part 3);

4. making the bottom of the river deeper by removing mud or sand (part 3);

5. a track or way that trains go over (part 4);

6. chained transport (part 4).

6. Explain the following word combinations with your own words.

road infrastructure;

space consumer;

operational flexibility;

multidimensional constraint;

terminal costs;

factor of accessibility.

7. Now that you learnt a lot of information about different modes of transport, say which of them you consider as the most perspective. Give reasons. Taking into consideration its disadvantages, say how you would improve or upgrade it.

Language Focus: Pronunciation

3. a) Listen to the tape and practice saying these rivers and ports.

Country	Port	River
France	Marseilles	The Loire
Spain	Barcelona	The Tagus
Portugal	Lisbon	The Douro
Italy	Genova	The Tiber
Germany	Bremen	The Rhein
The UK	Bristol	The Severn
Greece	Thessaloniki	The Aliákmon
Turkey	Izmir	The Kizilirmak
China	Shanghai	The Yangtze
Japan	Yokohama	The Shinano
The USA	New Orleans	The Mississippi
Russia	Astrakhan	The Volga
Canada	Quebec	The Mackenzie
Brazil	Rio de Janeiro	The Amazon
Poland	Danzig	The Oder
Morocco	Tangier	The Draa
Egypt	Alexandria	The Nile

b) Think of other countries important for the world’s maritime circulation and add them up to the table, including their largest ports and important rivers.

Language Focus: Grammar

1. Report the following sentences. Consult the help boxes.

a) Transport analyst gives logistics manager some comments.

1. “You know, each mode is characterized by a set of

technical, operational and commercial features.”

2. “More recently, air transportation has been

accommodating growing quantities of high value freight.

And I want to add, it is playing a growing role in modern logistics!”

3. “However, maritime circulation takes place on

specific parts of the maritime space, particularly

over the North Atlantic and the North Pacific.”

4. “High inventory costs also characterize maritime transportation.”

5. “Intermodal transportation has opened many

opportunities for complementary between modes.”

b) Logistics manager is asking transport analyst some questions.

1. “Do the road transport systems have high

maintenance costs?”

2. “What are the air transport constraints?”

3. “Can you suggest the most effective mode

to move large quantities of cargo?”

4. “Is it better to use maritime transportation in heavy industries?”

5. “Could you point out the advantages of rail transportation over other modes?”

c) The logistics manager gives instructions to the employees.

1. ”Do not wait for me, start the meeting”.

2. “Give some comments on the project, please.”

3. “Give me a hand in this deal, Tom.”

4. Please, make an appointment with our transport analyst.”

5. “Don’t make a fuss over this situation.”

d) The transport analyst is sharing his ideas about a recent business trip.

1. “It’s really economical!”

2. “What an efficient strategic plan!”

3. “He is a really good specialist!”

4. “What a far-reaching effect it has!”

5. “I’ve never had such a useful business trip!”

2. Report these telephone messages. Make sure that you changed the tenses, pronouns and adverbs as necessary. Consult the help boxes.

3. Some sentences contain mistakes. Find and correct them. Two sentences are correct.

1. Phillip was really exited about the new job in PR Department and he asked if could he start straight away.

2. He asked if all the constrains of air transportation was taken into account.

3. He wanted to know what is the problem with the choice of transport mode.

4. The police officer explained that loaded trucks couldn’t be left in these parking lots for more than 20 minutes.

5. He asked what the highest capacity of fully loaded coal train is.

6. Mr. Black told the client don’t panic because the order will come just in time.

7. The analyst assured that XL Logistics could play an important part in global logistics.

8. During the negotiations the logistics manager reported that the best mode of transportation in that case will be the maritime one.

9. My boss was interested to know had we heard anything about the new logistics company or not.

10. He wondered what maintenance costs for vehicles and infrastructure did road transportation systems have.

Reading 2

1. Look at the title of the text. Try to explain the meaning of the term “intermodalism”.

2. a) Skim the text to find out if your predictions were right.

Intermodal Transportation

Since the 1960s major efforts have been made to integrate separate transport systems through intermodalism. This involves the use of at least two different modes in a trip from origin to destination through an intermodal transport chain. Intermodality enhances the economic performance of a transport chain by using modes in the most productive manner. The emergence of intermodalism has been brought about in part by technology and requires management units for freight such as containers, swap bodies, pallets or semi-trailers. Better techniques and management units for transferring freight from one mode to another have facilitated intermodal transfers. Early examples include piggyback, where truck trailers are placed on rail cars, and LASH (lighter aboard ship), where river barges are placed directly on board sea-going ships. The major development undoubtedly has been the container, which permits easy handling between modal systems. Doublestacking of containers on railways has doubled the capacity of trains to haul freight with minimal cost increases, thereby improving the competitive position of the railways.

There is a relationship between transport costs, distance and modal choice. It enables to understand why road transport is usually used for short distances (from 500 to 750 km), railway transport for average distances and maritime transport for long distances (about 750 km). Variations of modal choice according to the geographical setting are observed but these figures tend to show a growth of the range of trucking. However, intermodalism offers the opportunity to combine modes and find a less costly alternative than an unimodal solution. Numerous technical improvements, such as river / sea shipping and better rail/road integration, have been established to reduce interchange costs, but containerization remains the most significant achievement so far. Public policy is also playing a role through concerns over the dominant position of road transport in modal competition. In Switzerland, for example, laws stipulate that all freight crossing through the country must be placed on the railways in order to try to reduce air pollution in Alpine valleys. The most important feature of intermodalism is the provision of a service with one ticket for passengers or one bill of lading for freight (see a foot-note). This has necessitated a revolution in organization and information control. At the heart of modern intermodalism are data handling, processing and distribution systems that are essential to ensure the safe, reliable and cost effective control of freight and passenger movements being transported by several modes. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is an evolving technology that is helping companies and government agencies (customs documentation) cope with an increasingly complex global transport system.

(edited from http://wikipedia.org)

* A bill of lading is a document issued by a carrier, e.g. a ship's master or by a company's shipping department, acknowledging that specified goods have been received on board as cargo for conveyance to a named place for delivery to the consignee who is usually identified. A general bill of lading involves the use of at least two different modes of transport from road, rail, air, and sea. The term derives from the noun "bill", a schedule of costs for services supplied or to be supplied, and from the verb "to lade" which means to load a cargo onto a ship or other form of transport.

b) Scan the text and find the examples of intermodalism.

3. Say if the following statements are true or false, correct the false ones.

Intermodality enhances the technical performance of a transport chain by using modes in the most productive manner.

In piggyback type truck trailers are placed on rail cars, and in LASH (lighter aboard ship) type river barges are placed near the board sea-going ships.

The container undoubtedly permits easy handling between modal systems.

The meaning of the intermodalism consists in changing different modes of transport effectively.

Variations of modal choice depend on the transportation costs only.

A company transporting some freight should have a separate bill of lading for each transportation mode.

The major components of intermodalism are technical maintenance, fuel servicing and passengers’ safety.

4. a) Match the verbs with their explanations.

1. to enhance a. to cause smth to happen

2. to necessitate b. to pull, to move

3. to cope with c. to improve the quality, value or status of smth

4. to bring about d. to combine things so that they work together

5. to stipulate e. to make smth unavoidable, essential

6. to evolve f. to develop gradually

7. to haul g. to state clearly that smth must be done

8. to integrate h. to deal successfully with smth difficult

b) Find these verbs and their derivatives in the text and say what nouns they collocate with. Think of two more nouns to form collocations.

c) Use these collocations in the sentences of your own.

5. Read the text again and say what advantages the intermodalism possesses. Use the following phrases:

It enables…

It facilitates…

It brings about…

It permits…

It enhances…

Language Focus: Vocabulary

1. Complete the following sentences, the first letter of the missing word is given.

1. These new strategies place physical c_________ on transportation projects.

2. The second b__________ of goods was shipped into the stores of the city.

3. Salt water has more b____________ than fresh water.

4. Each company having sea routes should get m__________ insurance for their vessels.

5. A part of a canal or river that is closed off by gates so that the water level can be raised or lowered is called a l_________.

6. A train is a chain of b__________ cars for transportation of bulky cargo.

7. Samara State Aerospace University has three a___________ buildings.

8. Excavators are machines used for d__________, removing mud and sand from the bottom of shallow canals.

9. White wine is a good c____________ to fish.

2. Look at the following verb-noun collocations. Cross odd one out.

to consume space route fuel

to maintain aircraft family costs

to finance constraints projects construction

to integrate systems friction freight

to enhance reputation performance problem

to stack port sites containers plates

to handle problem feelings weather

to necessitate competition law semi-trailer

to ensure pallets safety comfort

to reduce costs level sea

3. The following sentences contain spelling mistakes. Find and correct them.

1. Transport modes are caracterised by set of operational, commercial and teknical features.

2. Road construction includes some significant constrains as enviromental and phisical.

3. Air transport limitations are practically multidimentional and include climat, fog and airial curents.

4. At the heart of modern intermodalism are data handling, prossecing and distribusion systems nessessary to ensure the save and cost effective control of freight and passenger movements.

5. The contanerisation has improved the flexebility, cost, speed and acessibility of rail transportation.

4. a) Read the text below and look carefully at each line. Two of the lines are correct, and the rest of them have a word which should not be there. If a line is correct, put a tick (√) at the end of the line. If a line has a word that should not be there, write the word at the end of the line. The first one is done for you.

____of______

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

_____________

b) Render the main idea of the text in Russian.

5. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English.

1. Транспортному логисту доступны 4 вида транспорта: наземный, железнодорожный, морской и воздушный, каждый их которых имеет определенный набор технических и экономических характеристик.

2. Если вы перевозите товар маленькими партиями, советуем вам выбрать наземный транспорт.

3. Воздушный транспорт – самый быстрый вид транспорта, но самый дорогостоящий и сильно зависит от погодных условий.

4. Географически морской транспорт имеет много ограничений, но строительство каналов, шлюзов и дноуглубительные работы помогают решить эту проблему.

5. Для снижения затрат на транспортные услуги многие заводы и фабрики располагаются в непосредственной близости от портов и железнодорожных терминалов.

6. Использование нескольких видов транспорта улучшает экономические показатели транспортной цепи.

7. Использование стандартных контейнеров, съемных кузовов и полуприцепов значительно облегчает автомобильно-железнодорожную перевозку.

8. Транспортировка контейнеров в два яруса увеличила объем перевозимых грузов вдвое с минимальными затратами.

9. Электронная технология обмена данными помогает эффективно отслеживать транспортировку грузов при смешанных перевозках.

Listening

1. Listen to the tape dealing with World Top Transportation Records. Fill in the fact files.

a) The world’s largest cargo ship

Name	Xin Los Angeles
Company
Launch Date
TEU Number
Crew
Overall Length

b) The world’s biggest transport plane

Name
Launch Date
Payload
Overall length	84 m
Maximum speed
Range

c) The world’s longest train

Company	BHP Iron Ore
Country
Trip Date
Cars number
Overall length
Trip length

d) The world's longest non-stop airline flight

Name
Trip Date
Origin
Destination	London,UK
Trip length
Overall time

e) The world's longest railroad

Name
Road Length
Origin
Destination
Construction years	1891 - 1905

Writing / Speaking: Now You

1. a) Study the sample letter putting the shipping carrier on notice of claim. Note the information it contains.

Today’s Date

To: Steamship Line, Air Carrier, Trucker
123 Main Street
Anytown U.S.A.

RE:	Name of ship or air carrier
	Bill of Lading or Air Waybill number
	Voyage or flight number, Container Number
	Arrival Date
	Description of Cargo (i.e.: 35 cartons of frozen shrimp)

Dear Shipping Carrier:

Please accept this letter as a formal notice of loss. We are filing a claim against you in the amount of $________ U.S. (insert the total insured value of damaged merchandise) for loss and/or damage sustained to the above referenced shipment. We are attempting to mitigate this loss. We will advise you as to our success.

If this is a refrigerated shipment add: You are required to retain all temperature records (Partlow, etc.) for our review.

Sincerely,

Customer

CC:	Marine Insurance Company
	PO Box 12345
	Anytown, CA 92345-6789

NB The shipping carrier must be notified in writing as soon as a loss is discovered. This is important so that we may recover damages from the responsible party and it is a duty required of you in your insurance contract. All shipping companies limit the time period within which you may file your claim. Please refer to Time Limits for Filing a Claim Against Carriers / Liability of Carriers for a complete listing.

Carrier	Liability if No Value Declared	Report Loss or Damage within:	Report Concealed Damage within:	Report Nondelivery within:
Steamship (COGSA)	$500 per package	1 year from delivery	Report in writing within 3 days of delivery	1 year from scheduled delivery
International Airline	$9.07 per pound	7 days from delivery	7 days from delivery	120 days from scheduled delivery

b) Imagine that your order was delivered in a damaged state, file a claim to the shipping carrier, specifying the information about the cargo and terms of shipping. You can choose from the list below:

oranges from Morocco

salmon from Norway

leather from Turkey

fur coats from Greece

computer kits from the USA

Tune In

1. a) Look at the terms ‘packaging’ and ‘labelling’ and fill in a mind map. Share your ideas with the class. Define the difference between the terms.

b) Work out your definitions of the notions ‘packaging’ and ‘labelling’.

c) Compare your definitions with the one given by Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org).

Reading 1

8. a) Look at the following functions of packaging and labeling (a – g). Classify them into two groups: the ones related to packaging and the ones related to labelling, put P (packaging) or L (labelling) respectively.

b) Skim the text and match the functions with their descriptions.

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