Intermodal Transportation
The rapid increase in imports to US consumers and the increase in use of containerized goods is fostering a change in the railroad and trucking industries. In 2005, for railroads, intermodal freight (shipping containers and trailers by multiple transportation modes) constituted a bit more that 6% of total tonnage, and provided almost 15% of revenue. Growth of intermodal freight has been just under 11% per year for the past 10 years, from 48 million tons in 1994 to 120 million tons in 2004. Intermodal freight volume has increased in 22 of the past 25 years and has passed coal as the greatest revenue maker for railroads.
Most railroads see increased potential with intermodal freight and are expanding their capacity to move more containers. Capacity is being increased in three primary areas:
double tracking, or adding a second track to a main line that would allow two trains to pass each other without requiring one to pull onto a siding
raising bridge clearances to enable trains to carry double- stacked shipping containers
construction of intermodal facilities that are designed to easily transfer containers from one transportation mode to the other (air-to-truck, rail-to-truck, etc.)
Many railroads look at 250,000 container lifts per year as the minimum volume for establishing an intermodal yard. Places where containers are transferred from train-to-truck or air-to-train are likely candidates for large-scale development. A Wal-Mart distribution facility may receive about 100,000 containers annually.
The real engine behind AllianceTexas' success (Ross Perot Jr.'s industrial park next to Alliance Airport in Ft. Worth) is a 289-acre intermodal yard currently handling about 600,000 containers per year, according to spokesman David Pelletier. AllianceTexas was started in 1989, covers 11,600 acres, is home to more than 140 companies, creating 24,000 jobs and generated a $26 billion economic impact on the region.
The advantage of a public intermodal yard is in terms of the drayage costs -- the costs per container to move it from the rail yard to a destination distribution center. The drayage cost to move a container within an intermodal transportation park is about $40 per container. The cost to move a container to a distribution center 30 miles away from the rail yard is typically $200 to $300 per container.
Source: National Real Estate Investor, October 2006
For Rural combination Commuter / Freight, a Class 3 rail line would be sufficient.
Industrial Notes
Standard distribution warehouse size is 400,000 to 800,000 sf with 36 ft ceiling heights. This change reflects the changing way that companies think about distribution; nationally demand is expected to outpace supply until 2008. Nationally, rents should increase 3.5% to $5.10 / sf.
Source: Commercial Investment Real Estate Nov.Dec 2006:
Average National Real Estate Prices adjusted for Inflation |
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| Office | Industrial | Retail | Apartments | |
| 1985 | $163.33/sf | $31.78/sf | $97.50/sf | $52.81/sf |
| 2006 | $145.62/sf | $30.65/sf | $92.49/sf | $75.82/sf |
| % Change | -14.1% | - 7.0% | - 8.8% | 43.6% |
| Source: National Real Estate Investor Oct 2006: Global Real Analytics | ||||
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