Coordination Principles

Definition and Significance The ideal transportation is usually considered to be that of loading a shipment into a container (freight car, ship, truck, etc.) or into a transport system (pipeline, conveyor, etc.) at the shipper's door and performing no other operation than a single road haul before the freight is turned over directly to the consignee at his door. Such an ideal is not always realized, possible, or even desirable in practice.

Each type of carrier possesses certain inherent technical and economic advantages and disadvantages. These advantages often can best be realized, or the disadvantages overcome, by combining two or more carriers to perform a joint or coordinated transportation service. Coordination can bring about faster or more dependable service for the shipper and economies for the transport agencies, some of which may be passed on to the public through lowered rates. Concern must be directed to the complete door-to-door movement of persons and goods. The mechanics of operation that bring about coordination are usually focused on terminal functions and facilities.

Union rail and bus stations, the collection and delivery by trucks of line-haul freight, and the travel to and from an airport by automobile, bus, taxi, or helicopter are examples of coordinated transport services. Many other services are not so well known to the general public. Each arrangement is a problem to be settled on its merits. It is probable that the administrative savings occasioned by coordination have been overemphasized. At the same time, the possibilities for more economical, rapid, convenient, and dependable service through coordination are far from realization.

Coordinative Factors What are the factors or combination of conditions that bring about coordination?

Extension of Service This has been one of the prime factors. Airplanes cannot take off and land in the centre of a large city or its central business district. They must extend their service into that potential source of traffic by the use of ground transportation. The flexibility of trucks is used by railroads to extend their service to the shipper’s door. Feeder service to line-haul routes is a form of coordination. The intervening presence of a large body of water may require joint rail or highway and water service. A railroad mine spur may penetrate rugged terrain as far as possible and then use a cableway to reach areas across terrain impassable by rail.

Speed The use of combined modes of transport to produce a speedy passage is exemplified by the suburban dweller that drives his car to a parking lot on a commuter or rapid transit line and rides the train into town.

Convenience The desire to offer a more convenient and competitive service has led to such types of coordination as truck pickup and delivery for rail and highway motor freight. Coordination facilitates concentration by permitting a large- or bulk-shipment carrier to accumulate large quantities of freight in stock piles, tank farms, or warehouses and by using other means of transport to make small-lot distribution from there.

Economy The simple urge for economy may, in some instances, bring about coordination. Two types of economy-land use and financial-are likely to be involved. The joint use of the same right of way by different types of transport illustrate land-use economy. Rail transit lines have been placed in the median strip between highway lanes. Some pipelines have been laid on railroad rights of way. In Wuppertal, Germany, a monorail is suspended over a waterway.

Coordination facilitates concentration by permitting a large- or bulk- shipment carrier to accumulate large quantities of freight in stock piles, tank farms, or warehouses and by using other means of transport to make small-lot distribution from there.

Financial economy may be the reason for a union rail or bus station or for a terminal service for all railroads that is provided by a single terminal system within an urban area. The capital, operating, and administrative costs of duplicate facilities are thus avoided.

Several or all of these factors are usually present at the same time to bring about a particular type of coordination. Economy in land use, for example, usually (but not always) leads to financial economy as well.

Limitations on Coordination Coordination should be used only when it makes a real contribution to overall economy and efficiency of movement. Combination frequently involves interchange or rehandling of equipment and lading. Each handling or interchange increases the possibility of loss or damage. Transshipment of coal, for example, by means of a car dumper to a ship and then via bucket crane back to a railroad car can break the initial lumps into smaller particles; this means the loss of tonnage through dust and leakage of fine particles. Interchange design should be based on a minimum of rehandling and reverse movements. By interchanging barges, cars, or trailers, large shipments can be moved from one carrier to another without disturbing the contents. Trailer-on-flatcar and containerization similarly reduce the need for rehandling smaller shipments and the attendant potential for loss, damage, and pilferage. Time and cost factors will vary with the situation, facility, commodity, and system of operation.