Compared to other forms of cargo transportation, rail transport is quite safe. Rail transportation is capable of high levels of passenger and cargo movement while maintaining energy efficiency, but is often less flexible. Rail transport costs less than air or road transport, making it extremely cost effective for inland movement.
Common Terms in Rail Transport
Any type of pre-made container designed for transportation of goods using rail locomotion. Railcars are unpowered, and require an engine to push or pull them. There are a variety of rail cars designed to accommodate a variety of shipping needs.
Powered vehicle that is operated by a pilot and is used to push or pull railcars over long distances. Engines can be electric, or powered by fossil fuels.
A volume of cargo that is capable of filling an entire rail car.
Less Than Carload
A volume of cargo that is less the volume required to fill an entire railcar.
A large open area alongside train tracks where trains can be domiciled or repaired. Railyards are also where cargo loading and offloading operations occur.
Train cargo that is considered bulk or full cargo, as opposed to passenger rail vehicles or light rail (usually inner city public transport).
The act of switching cars between one train and another.
Rail Transport Arrangements
Containerization – much like sea freight, many railways can accommodate containerized cargo. There are no differences between the containers used in sea shipping and those use in rail shipping. The process of stuffing and sealing containers may occur at the shippers facility, or may occur at a consolidation point or forwarders facility. The same volume and weight restrictions apply to rail shipping using containerization as they do to sea shipping.
Loose Shipping – shippers may wish to ship less than full rail car loads using rail, or may not have access to intermodal container shipping through the desired rail line. Cargo can still be shipped using a variety of rail cars. Sending palletized or loose cargo via rail is similar to sending cargo with a third-party trucking company – cargo will be loaded onto the train utilizing pre-made and usually hard sided structures, and will be offloaded on the receiving end. Usually, shippers aren’t even allowed into the rail yard to participate in the loading/offloading of rail cars, and will only see cargo as it’s picked up outside the railyard, or once it’s delivered to their facility. Securing shipping for loose cargo via rail can be done through any freight forwarder or broker, and rail lines may even have direct customer service.
Unique Concepts to Rail Transportation
Infrastructure Limitations - Rail transportation has a far limited scope compared to most other forms of cargo movement. The reality is rail movement needs specialized built out infrastructure – a rail network – that requires maintenance and is easily damaged by weather or conflict. Shippers utilizing rail to move cargo have very few options – the size of railcars is limited by the overall size of the tracks, and freight trains have a fairly limited set of destinations. In many contexts where many aid agencies work and operate, there will likely not be a functioning rail network all together.
Inflexibility - Rail is very suitable for the movement of large load sizes over longer distances, but it lacks the versatility and flexibility of motor carriers since it operates on fixed track facilities. Rail can only provide services terminal to terminal, rather than point to point delivery services offered by trucking. Though rail transport offers an effective method of bulk haulage, it can be very slow, especially considering loading, offloading, and overall railyard operations.
Sending Cargo by Rail
Rail Transport Documentation
Rail Waybill / Freight Waybill - Documentation for movement by rail is controlled through the rail waybill. Unlike a BOL, CMR or BOL, the rail waybill is a nonstandard, non fixed-format document. Rail waybills are typically created by and supplied by the rail line, and will contain locally relevant and important information.
The rail waybill is a non-negotiable document containing the instructions to the railway company for handling, dispatching and delivering the consignment. No other document is required for domestic shipments, however shippers may wish to include additional information such as a detailed packing lists. For international transport across borders, shippers should be made locally as to the proper documentation needed.
Example Rail / Freight Waybill:
Cargo Configuration for Rail Shipping
If not utilizing intermodal shipping containers, shippers generally have very little control over how cargo is loaded, nor are there many special considerations while packaging cargo. Cargo may be shipped palletized or loose, however it may be in the best interests of the shipper to palletize and label cargo as much as possible to minimize loss or theft while in transit. Trains can haul heavy and large cargo, and are really only limited by excessively oversized items, such as oversized construction equipment. Certain routes may be limited by tunnels or underpasses, so shippers should inquire with their forwarders about the overall limitation for shipping using a specific rail line.
The overall types of railcars used for shipping are:
Box Car – The most common form of pre-made purpose built rail car. Box cars are sealed on all sides and have hard, rigid structures with locking doors. Box cars need to be manually loaded, similar to the bed of a box truck.
Flat Car – A car without hard siding, used to transport wide or tall cargo such as vehicles and construction equipment. Flat cars can also house standard shipping containers. Flat cars can also be used for regular cargo, but would expose regular cargo more to the elements and theft.
Hopper Car – An open top box car with reinforced support under the long edges. Hopper cars are used for hauling large quantities of loose bulk items, such as grain, sand, ore, or anything non liquid that can be dumped directly into the body of the car. Offloading may be done by hand or MHE. Some hopper cars are capable of tilting to rapidly offload bulk cargo at once.
Tank Car – Can be low-pressure (liquid) or high-pressure (gas). Ideal for moving large volumes of liquid long distances. There may be restrictions on the liquid and gas types due to national and local laws and limitations on handling hazardous goods
Inland Waterways and Rivers
Where road and rail transport are not possible due to lack of infrastructure it may be necessary to transport goods by river, delta, marshes, canals or other form of inland waterways. The mode of transport will be informed by the nature of the inland waterway, including depth, water current, necessity for speed of delivery, and ability to load/offload at remote locations and destinations.
Under very specific circumstances, barges can be an extremely cost-effective way of moving large volumes of cargo relatively large distances. Barges are wide, flat river vessels with low edges, have flat bottoms, and have a shallow draft. This makes barges ideal for use in calm flat and shallow waters like a river, but largely unsuitable for turbulent waters like the open ocean. Barges can come in two configurations:
Self-propelled – Self-propelled barges have a connected cabin and engine mount, and move as a single piece. Usually the engine is designed for moving large loads, but isn’t meant for speed.
Dumb Barges – A “dumb” barge is an non self-powered floating platform, capable of holding cargo, but is without steering or an engine. Dumb barges require an external boat to move, including a tow boat or a “pusher,” a separate motivated boat that is specifically designed to push or pull dumb barges along waterways.
The barges themselves are divided into two general categories:
Flat Deck – A barge on which the deck stowage is one large flat surface, upon which cargo rests and is secured to. Flat deck surfaces on barges are very exposed - they won't protect cargo from waves or from turbulent water, and items stored on the surface of flat decks can be easy targets for thieves. All cargo transported on the surface must be properly secured and tied down, and valuable items stored in a manner that won't enable easy theft.
Hopper / Split Hopper – A barge with one large or many smaller compartments that are partially below the edge of the barge. Hoppers can be used to store bulk loose items such as grains, sand or ore. Many hoppers can be covered with tarp or hard metal lids to protect contents, and some can even store additional cargo on top of the hopper compartments. Depending on the cargo, hopper/split barges can be loaded by hand or specialized MHE.
Tanker Barge - A barge designed to carry liquids or compressed gasses. Tanker barges requires specialized maintenance, and will only be used if the sending and receiving ports have the proper equipment to load and offload.
Barge movement is likely the cheapest mode of moving cargo inland into a country, however it has limitations. Barging operations are extremely slow; the loading and offloading process can take days or weeks depending on the load type and the journey itself can take weeks to accomplish. Barges are also further limited by the ability to safely moor and offload at the point of delivery. Barges themselves can be impacted by seasonal changes to the riverway, making areas impassable for periods of time.
In reality, there are only a few locations globally where barges will be effectively used in a humanitarian response operations. There is no standard form of documentation for utilizing barges, and users of barge services will need to supply their own tracking documentation and process their own customs formalities if required to.
Inland water ways can be navigated by boats of the appropriate sizes. Smaller boats have the advantage of moving quickly and fitting into smaller water inlets, however will also be limited in the volume of cargo they can carry. Agencies may wish to rent or lease their own boats for rapid response operations.
There may also be large riverway shipping operations on vessels capable of carrying relatively large volumes of cargo. Utilizing third-party riverway shipping should be treated the same as utilizing any local third-party transport.
Any goods being moved via animal must be packaged in relation to the weight that the particular animal can safely and humanely carry. There are many possible variations of available local animals depending on geography, climate, the local economy, and a variety of other local conditions. Speaking with a local expert is strongly advised when developing an animal delivery plan.