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Despite all the measures already taken and those still underway, pollution remains a major global problem, as the transport sector is the one where emissions are expected to increase in the coming years. Companies and policy makers are under increasing pressure to reduce the impact of their logistics activities in order to make transportation more environmentally friendly. One of the solutions to reduce emissions from intermodal transport is to choose the “right” mode of transport for each step in the transport chain. Such a measure increases the complexity of the transport chain and places an additional burden on transport companies in planning and organising transport for the entire transport chain. Additional difficulties arise from the fragmentation of information on emissions emitted for a single transport link and the lack of a unified approach to measuring and estimating transport chain emissions. As a result, this work finds that there is a lack of knowledge among users about the environmental impacts of transportation, despite the desire to contribute to greener transportation by paying more for a product or transportation service. The current research fills the gap in stakeholders’ understanding of the negative environmental impacts for individual transportation and for the entire transport chain. In addition, the study reveals a need for a systematically regulated and adapted way of informing users of intermodal transport chains due to the lack of transparency and comparison between different intermodal transport chains. To successfully address the challenges, the study proposes a 2-pillar approach. The 1st pillar approach focuses on designing a set of necessary measures (combination of top-down and bottom-up approach) for the transition to a low-carbon transport chain, while the 2nd pillar mainly focuses on mapping the level of green transport for easy comparison of similar products or services. The results of the research study show that the combination of numerical data with symbolic data is best suited to provide information on the level of green transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermodal transport is often touted as an environmentally sustainable mode of transport, especially when considering its share of the total supply chain. This article addresses the topical and sensitive issue of supply chain assessment in terms of the carbon footprint and energy effi ciency of external transportation from the point of production to the customer. The long transportation distances overseas and the variety of operational sea container services result in signifi cant variations in delivery times from Asian markets. In addition, disruptive events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine confl ict have led to longer transportation times and lower reliability of various maritime services. The study examines the variety of existing direct container services from Asia to the Northern Adriatic. In addition to the two direct container services already established, another dedicated container service has been established primarily to serve a large retail chain in the European market. The “newly established” container service is characterised by its limited port coverage and the use of relatively small container ships with a maximum capacity of 5.500 TEU. The comparisons between the services highlight the diff erences in transport time and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as the energy effi ciency of container transport. The study empirically confi rms the widespread assumption that larger and modern container ships off er environmental benefi ts, provided that cargo space is used effi ciently and ship operators adopt slow steaming. However, the study also highlights the signifi cant diff erences in GHG emissions between diff erent services and emphasises the need for more comprehensive information and awareness among cargo owners to design sustainable supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable performance of the intermodal transport chain has gained popularity in recent decades, especially due to climate change and numerous European laws aimed at minimizing the negative impacts of transport. In this paper, we have developed a novel three-phase, two-stage approach that is a combination of distance-based analytic hierarchy process/data envelopment analysis (AHP-DEA). The added value of this multi-criteria approach is in evaluating a sustainable intermodal transport chain, with prioritization of the most efficient combinations of transport in accordance with the weights derived from its users. Instead of the classic pairwise comparison, the weights of the criteria were determined using a new distance-based AHP method in which respondents were asked to sort the criteria (transportation time, price, emissions, and variability) pre-selected from the literature in order of greatest importance. Therefore, the approach determines the most efficient transport chain in the transportation corridor. Since a transportation corridor was previously defined, the settings for this corridor were set to constant initial variables. In this way, the above criteria were chosen as inputs, with DEA aimed at minimizing these variables and presenting the results in ranks from highest to lowest efficiency. The potential of our approach was presented in a case study, where the most efficient of the selected transport chains between Asia and the northern Adriatic were chosen. The results show that there are different intermodal transport chains, each of which consists of either maritime and rail transport or maritime and road transport. The paper concludes that the presented multicriteria approach has greater discriminatory power than the current DEA, as well as greater flexibility, since the weights can be derived faster and more effortlessly than is typical. Therefore, this method can help transportation organizers to determine which intermodal transportation chain is the most efficient or sustainable in any given situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the highly topical issue of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on port logistics. The impacts are reflected in all three pillars of sustainable operations and development that port logistics should pursue. The economic impact is strong and is reflected in the extremely high transport prices, the accessibility of transport, the lengthening of the supply chain, and the reduced liquidity of companies. The social aspect is very important regarding working conditions and workers' roles in ports and logistics service providers (LSPs). The dynamic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also have an impact on the environmental aspect. As supply chains are vulnerable, more attention is paid to the components of time, price, and reliability than greener transportation. This study highlights changes in port logistics due to the COVID-19 pandemic in logistics companies in the northern Adriatic region and covers a specific gap in the understanding of the sustainable adaptations of LSPs in their operations within port logistics. The results enrich the scientific field regarding LSPs to work processes, the digitalization of business processes, and the organization of logistics chains. The results can be used to develop new sustainable business models for port logistics and port governance, as some researchers have already called for because port logistics too often pursue the economic goals of the fastest and cheapest logistics process. At the same time, social and environmental aspects are somewhat neglected. The changes are particularly pronounced in critical situations, such as those typical of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted as part of the project about green port development with external research funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper highlights the problem of assessing the level of environmentally acceptable green transport in modern supply chains. Cargo owners put the elements of time and price of service into the forefront, where the degree of pollution (CO2, NOx, SO2, PMs) and the need for energy efficiency is too often ignored. Various studies highlight the lack of methodological approaches to the standardized evaluation of the environmental impacts of intermodal transport, thus the aim is to formulate a modular approach to the analysis of three parameters (time, price and pollution) of sustainable intermodal transport chains. The research hypothesis assumes that there are differences in complex intermodal transport chains and that the elements of price and time of transport do not directly reflect the degree of produced pollution. The study elaborates a four-step approach, with the main focus on evaluation processes, where input data must be unified to provide comparable decision-based parameters of various transport solutions. The modular approach proposes transparent data presentation that could be used by intermodal operators or logistics companies when presenting their offer to cargo owners. The modular approach is used on the ocean transport route from Asia to the northern Adriatic, with final inland transport to central European markets that is promoted under the Belt and Road Initiative. The study determines that along the entire intermodal transport chain the pollution level is not directly reflected by the elements of time and price. Thus, there is a strong need for a unified approach in the evaluation and presentation of structured data to cargo owners. Consequently, the study provides a new contribution to the transport industry, with customer's becoming aware sooner of pollution from transport and greener transport decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution is increasingly becoming a major global problem. Consequently, companies and policy makers are facing mounting pressure to reduce their impacts of logistics activities and make transport greener. The challenge to reduce the carbon intensity of maritime transport is even more important when we take into equation the fact that carries about 90% of the world trade. While car industry has already taken actions to greener cars, maritime industry is subject to fewer regulations and slower progress. This article overviews upcoming trends of green intermodal chains, initiatives in green maritime transport and how noteworthy is share of their impact in the transport chain as a whole. Speed reduction is one of most important measures which can be implemented right away with win-win impacting on environment and fuel cost. The study analysis environmental impacts of different services to eastern Adriatic ports, with special emphasis of slow steaming impacts on pollution level. The paper exposes that direct lines with bigger ships cause lower emissions of CO2, NOx and SOx and that with decisions of slow steaming the pollution level decreases significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrastructure elements are a crucial factor in accommodating larger ships, organizing longer trains, and ensuring the higher flow of goods in intermodal hubs. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) supports the development of infrastructure on the defined transport routes—the Maritime Silk Road (MSR), which includes the European southern transport route through the northern Adriatic. The research emphasizes the importance of the port, and railway infrastructure development on the Baltic–Adriatic Corridor (BAC) by analyzing the pollution level produced from transport means currently employed. The results of SO2, NOx, PM10, and the energy efficiency of intermodal transport chains prove that the current transport route to the northern leg of the BAC via the port of Gdansk is more environmentally friendly, even if it is about 3000 NM longer. The article provides a scientific contribution by pollution data elaboration for demonstrating the need and justification for high investment in BAC in order to establish sustainable transport chains. The study shows that pollution values from supply chains on the Asia–Central Europe axis could be reduced by up to 30% by eliminating infrastructural barriers in the port of Koper and on the railway network at BAC, which is one of the primary goals of BRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]