Bringing together an international network of leading scholars, this multidisciplinary book unravels some of the most pressing challenges to shipping, ports, and logistics. Divided into five parts--shipping, the analysis of flows and networks, terminal operations and performance, logistics, and port development and governance--this record is an essential read for practitioners in the maritime and logistics world, postgraduate students, policy makers, and professional organizations. As market players expand and improve their services in line with increased requirements on rates, reliability, environmental footprint, and safety and security, this compendium encourages further systematic thinking.

International Freight Transport presents the key changes and issues in the fast-moving industries of trade and transport. It includes coverage of regional trade groupings, the emergence of new large economies (i.e. BRIC countries), and pivotal regions such as the Middle East and Central America where major projects, such as new and widened canals, are underway or planned. These changes could redraw the trade map with major implications for transport patterns and solutions. Blending geography, economics, politics and trade, International Freight Transport provides insight into a wide range of topics, including: globalisation; demand versus supply; buyers and sellers; transport regulation, geography, modes and methods; transport ownership; alliances; and safety and security. The book is the only comprehensive and accessible book on international transport available.

In this book, the business of international freight forwarding is examined from both a theoretical and empirical point of view with a special emphasis on multimodal transport chains, including sea or air transport operations. In such contexts, the freight forwarder is always considered "The Architect of Transport", but this intermediary role seems to be largely neglected in research to date. Therefore, relevant concepts from economic theory and economic sociology are employed to produce both an intermediary and a network perspective of freight forwarding in order to provide a better understanding of this kind of transportation business. Furthermore, its intermediary role in such inherent network structures is explored by mapping relationship patterns in a stylized model framework applied to a questionnaire-based sample collected among freight forwarders engaged in such multimodal transport chains in Germany (especially from Hamburg, Bremen and Bremerhaven) as well as in Austria in 2003.

Efficient movement of freight within the United States and across its borders is a critical enabler of future U.S. economic growth. The authors provide an overview of the freight-transportation system and the problems it faces, concluding with a discussion of key system-modernization issues, including increasing capacity, making the system less vulnerable to disruption, addressing environmental concerns, and building support for funding.

This report identifies potential improvements in terms of more effective safety and environmental regulation for trucks, backed by better systems of enforcement, and identifies opportunities for greater efficiency and higher productivity.