In this study the possibilities of a modal shift from road to intermodal transportation for a Swedish company producing concrete units is investigated, for the purpose of determining the economic and environmental (limited to CO2-emissions) effects such a shift would bring. The study is relevant since the case company is interested in moving their transports from the roads, and the European Union has promoted a modal shift away from road transportation to more sustainable modes.

The present day transportation, along with three plausible different intermodal transportation scenarios are analysed. The first scenario incorporates a crane-equipped truck that loads the train near the production facility, and then travels with the last load carrier to the destination, concurrently with the train, to repeat the operations in reverse order at the receiving end. The second scenario employs rail cars that can load entire trucks, including their cargo. In the third scenario, the cargo is transhipped from road to rail at terminals operated by a logistics provider.

All three intermodal scenarios reports higher costs than for road transportation, not only because of what is believed to be a too short door-to-door distance, but also due to high drayage costs. However, the environmental impact is heavily reduced for all three scenarios, in one by as much as 42%. These results contribute to the academic knowledge base of factors influencing the break even distance for intermodal transportation, and also to policy makers and practitioners in the way that the immense difference in environmental impact might be something worth to invest both time and funds in.

Non-sustainable transportation is a great part of the stress that human activities put on the environment. Transportation of construction material are today performed all but exclusively by road, a mode that is cheap and fast, but at the same time heavy on emissions. In light of this, the effects of a modal change from road to combined road/rail transportation are studied from the viewpoint of a case company producing prefabricated concrete units. The study includes economic and environmental as well as operational effects. A case study is performed at the producing company by looking at actual invoices and delivery orders for the present mode of transportations. To assess the present operations, an intermodal alternative was created and studied. The comparison clearly shows that the environmental impact of the intermodal transportation is only a fraction of that of the road transportation. However, intermodal transportation is less cost efficient, flexible and reliable. The results imply the construction industry as a whole could lessen its environmental impact by employing intermodal transportation, however, without changes in regulations and policies to negate the economic disadvantage, intermodal transportation in its current state will not be a viable option for the studied company.

Rail freight, and consequently multimodal (where two or more transport modes are combined) road-and-rail transportation, constituted 15% of the total tonne-kilometres in the EU during 2009, to be compared to road transportation at 74%. In Sweden the numbers are slightly more in favour of rail transportation, but still a small share despite the fact that the European Committee promotes sustainable modes of transport. To reduce the environmental impact from the transport sector, and be able to promote the use of sustainable transport modes, it is important to gain an understanding of why the modal balance is disposed this way. A survey was used to contact 665 companies in central Sweden regarding their attitude towards transportation involving rail. The unfamiliarity regarding the attributes of rail transportation was surprisingly vast among respondents, while the required transhipment between modes was considered the most negative characteristic, since many companies believed that this creates extra costs and increased door-to-door time. The lesser environmental impact was the best known characteristic and also what respondents claimed would be the reason for them to consider this mode of transport. The distilled results of the study informs academy, policy makers and practitioners about the lack of knowledge regarding rail transportation and the specific aspects that  the industry must put effort into improving if rail transportation are to be considered a advantageous option.

In 2009, road transportation amounted to 74 % and rail to 15 % of inland transportation in the EU. Since road transportation release large amounts of emissions, it cannot be classified as a sustainable mode of transportation. The European Committee promotes the use of other modes, such as rail and inland waterways. Factors influencing the choice of transportation mode for buyers of these services are e.g. the reliability and delivery precision of the service, which in turn are affected by risks. The purpose of this study is to identify risks connected to rail freight and whether the view of these risks may deter companies from choosing rail transportation, which could possibly offer an explanation to the modal share numbers. The study employs a survey, which has been performed among Swedish companies in close vicinity of a rail terminal. It is found that respondents consider the risks of disturbances such as delays, theft and accidents to be important when considering mode of transport and that the respondents consider rail transportation to be lacking compared to road transportation. The results are valuable to policy makers who are promoting sustainable transportation, since they may explain why companies are less willing to perform a modal shift. To mitigate the risks, it is suggested that capacity of the rail network in the EU should be expanded.