Modal Split in British Inland Container Market

This paper describes how the containerization of trans-oceanic general cargo traffic has been one of the most important developments in the shipping industry since the rise of the iron hulled steamship. But it has not only affected deep sea shipping operations. Ports, inland transportation modes and coastal shipping have been forced to adapt. This paper reviews the current position in the United Kingdom (UK). The authors concentrate entirely on the deep sea sector where container traffic is the main form of general cargo operation. The short sea trades to Europe and the states bordering the Mediterranean, Baltic and Black seas are not discussed. Section 2 of the paper outlines the institutional and regulatory environment that applies in the UK, and an estimate of the size of the total market and the share of each mode with it is then given in sections 3 and 4. Section 5 presents evidence on the prices paid by liner operators for the use of the various modes. Section 6 discusses the factors that modify mode choice in practice, both at present and in the future and conclusions are given in section 7.