Demystifying Unimodal, Multimodal, Intermodal, Combined & Through Transport

Journey 1: How cargo moves

When cargo is moved by a single mode of transport, without using another mode of transport before or after it, then that is unimodal transport..

The most common form of Unimodal transport is road transport when cargo is moved from a seller’s warehouse to a buyer’s warehouse, even if it is cross-border, like it happens in the EU or in Africa, where cross-border movement by road is common..

Even if the cargo is transloaded from one truck to another, it is still a unimodal transport..

Unimodal movement by sea also happens, but mainly in the shipment of bulk liquid and bulk solid trade where the cargo is delivered to a stockpile/tanks and moved to the ship directly and discharged/offloaded from the ship to the stockpile/silos/tanks on the other end, with no other mode of transport used at either end..

The same Unimodal movement could also apply to rail, although this is mostly for domestic movements, and it is much rarer in exports and only happens in the rare cases on cross-border corridors where both ends have their own siding and no other modes of transport are required..

Journey 2: How the contract moves

Before signing the sales contract, the mode of transport would have been decided with the contract owner, the entity that holds contractual responsibility for the transport arrangement and its execution from A to D..

The contract owner would then decide whether they are going to use 1 master “contractor” (think carrier) who has undertaken the full movement from A to D under 1 contract or distribute the contract between 2 or more contractors under different contracts, say from A to B and B to D or A to B to C to D..

It is also possible that the master contractor would use sub-contractors, say, for example A to C and another one from C to D, but the master contract between the master contractor and the contract owner remains 1 and covers only that 1 mode of transport, which is Road..

Each contract covers the agreed part of the journey.. Where one master contractor undertakes the whole movement, its contract covers A to D, irrespective of the number of sub-contractors used..

How Unimodal moves are governed

Different conventions and liability regimes govern the different unimodal moves, and they don’t all work the same way..

By road

International carriage of goods by road for reward is governed by the CMR Convention where the agreed places of taking over and delivery are in two different countries.. AT LEAST ONE of these countries must be a contracting party, subject to the Convention’s scope and exclusions..

The CMR Convention’s geographical coverage includes Europe and parts of Asia and North Africa.. The contract is evidenced by a CMR consignment note..

Elsewhere, including Southern Africa and the Americas, cross-border road carriage is governed by national law and the carrier’s own trading conditions..

But there is a twist here.. If the road movement from A to D includes a stretch where the truck itself is carried by sea ferry, rail or river barge, but the goods are NOT unloaded from the truck, then Article 2 of the CMR Convention keeps the whole carriage under CMR..

Article 30(4) of the 1980 UN Multimodal Transport Convention supports this, as it says carriage of this kind is not to be treated as multimodal transport for States bound by CMR..

So the truck physically crossed the water on a ship and two modes were used, but because the goods stayed in the truck throughout, the contract journey remains unimodal..

However, under Article 2 of CMR, different liability rules may apply if it is proved that the loss, damage or delay happened during the other mode of transport, was not caused by the road carrier, and arose from something specific to that other mode..

The road carrier remains responsible, but its liability is assessed as though the sender had booked the goods directly with the other carrier.. For a sea leg, this could mean Hague-Visby Rules where applicable.. If no legally applicable rules govern that other carriage, CMR remains the basis for the road carrier’s liability..

So CMR governs the contract throughout, but not necessarily the liability outcome on that leg..

By rail

Unimodal transport by rail is governed by the CIM Uniform Rules under COTIF, and the contract is evidenced by a CIM consignment note..

Outside the COTIF states, rail carriage in the CIS, China and Mongolia runs under SMGS, with a combined CIM/SMGS consignment note used to bridge the two where a movement crosses between them..

By water

Sea carriage is governed by the applicable maritime liability regime, most commonly the Hague or Hague-Visby Rules, though these usually apply through national legislation rather than directly.. The contract is evidenced by a bill of lading or a sea waybill..

Whether that sea contract is unimodal or multimodal has nothing to do with how the cargo physically travelled.. It depends entirely on WHAT the carrier has undertaken to carry..

If the shipping line contracts to do only the sea leg, it issues a Port-to-Port Bill of Lading and the contract is unimodal.. The inland legs at both ends are arranged separately by the merchant under merchant haulage, even though the container clearly moved by truck or rail to reach the port..

If the shipping line contracts to do the entire move from the seller’s premises to the buyer’s premises under carrier haulage, then the contract is multimodal, and the document issued is a multimodal transport document.. The line will almost certainly sub-contract the inland movement, but that changes nothing, because the contract between the contract owner and the carrier remains ONE contract from A to D..

Same container, same route, same trucks and same vessel.. The only difference is what is inside the contract..

Qualifying points of Unimodal

• Transloading is when goods are physically moved from one vehicle to another, for example, unloaded from one truck and reloaded onto another.. If both vehicles are trucks, it is still road, still unimodal..
• Cross-docking is a form of transloading where the goods move straight from the incoming vehicle to the outgoing vehicle with little or no storage in between..
• A movement can be unimodal by contract while being multimodal operationally.. The port-to-port bill of lading is the everyday example..
• Unimodal by road is common.. Unimodal by sea or rail is rare and mostly limited to bulk..

Definition of terminologies used in this section

• Contract Owner: The entity that holds contractual responsibility for the transport arrangement and its execution.. Depending on the Incoterms® rule, this could be the seller, the buyer, or each of them for different parts of the journey.. Note that the contract owner is not always the party that physically places the booking, as a freight forwarder acting as agent may do that on their behalf while the contract owner remains the responsible party..
• Master Contractor: The party appointed by the contract owner to undertake the movement under one contract.. In transport terms, this is the carrier, and it takes on the move as principal, meaning in its own name and on its own responsibility..
• Sub-contractors: The parties the master contractor appoints to perform parts of the movement it does not perform itself.. They have a contract with the master contractor, NOT with the contract owner..
• Master Contract: The single contract between the contract owner and the master contractor.. It stays as one contract no matter how many sub-contractors are used underneath it..
• Principal: A party acting in its own name and on its own responsibility, as opposed to an agent acting on behalf of someone else..

Journey 1: How cargo moves

The most authoritative definition of the term “international multimodal transport” is provided in Article 1 (1) of the United Nations Convention on International Multimodal Transport of Goods 1980 (MT Convention), which says :

“International multimodal transport means the carriage of goods by at least two different modes of transport on the basis of a multimodal transport contract from a place in one country at which the goods are taken in charge by the multimodal transport operator to a place designated for delivery situated in a different country“..

The MT Convention also describes a ‘Multimodal transport operator’ as

“any person who on his own behalf or through another person acting on his behalf concludes a multimodal transport contract and who acts as a principal, not as an agent or on behalf of the consignor or of the carriers participating in the multimodal transport operations, and who assumes responsibility for the performance of the contract“..

Road, rail and sea is the most common combination in global trade, where a container or cargo is moved by truck and/or rail from the seller’s premises to the port, loaded onto the ship, and a similar activity takes place at the other end until the cargo reaches the buyer’s premises.. The movement may involve 2 or 3 modes depending on the location, access, costing etc..

Road and rail with no sea at all is also multimodal.. Cargo moved by road to a rail terminal in Germany, then railed all the way to China.. No ship involved, but still multimodal..

This is true whether the cargo is in a container, on a pallet, in jumbo bags or chained to a trailer.. Multimodal does not differentiate how the cargo is packed or whether it is handled along the way.. It only counts the modes..

Almost every containerised, break bulk and project cargo movement involving sea or rail is multimodal on the cargo journey..

Journey 2: How the contract moves

Similar to a unimodal contract, the contract owner decides whether to appoint a Master Contractor to undertake the entire movement from A to D under one contract covering all the modes involved, or to appoint separate contractors for each mode.. Where one contractor takes on the whole multi-mode movement, that party is the Multimodal Transport Operator (MTO)..

While physically the MTO can use multiple sub-contractors – trucker, rail operator, shipping line, etc to carry out the movement, the master contract between the MTO and the contract owner remains ONE contract.. The MTO takes on the whole journey as the principal and issues one transport document covering it, known as a Multimodal Transport Document..

Where negotiability is needed, typically for a letter of credit, that transport document is a Multimodal Bill of Lading, a Combined Transport Bill of Lading, or a FIATA FBL.. Where it is not, a non-negotiable document such as the FIATA FWB is used..

Multimodal contract: One contract covering two or more modes, with one party responsible from start to finish..

How Multimodal moves are governed

This is where it differs from unimodal, because there is no convention in force governing multimodal transport at all..

The MT Convention never entered into force, and the Rotterdam Rules, which would cover door-to-door carriage as long as one leg is by sea, are not in force either.. So there is no single international law that picks up a multimodal movement and governs it from end to end..

What governs is the contract between the contract owner and the MTO.. In most cases, the terms are the operator’s own multimodal bill of lading conditions..

Where a FIATA FBL or BIMCO MULTIDOC is used, the UNCTAD/ICC Rules for Multimodal Transport Documents are incorporated.. And where no multimodal document is issued at all, it is usually the forwarder’s standard trading conditions that apply..

There are also the mandatory unimodal conventions that apply to multimodal movements..

Look at the liability clause on any multimodal or combined transport bill of lading, usually under Carrier’s Responsibility or Basic Liability.. You will find wording along the lines of “where it can be proved where the loss or damage occurred”, followed by a reference to the convention or national law that would have applied to that stage..

If the damage can be pinned to a particular leg, the liability regime for THAT leg may apply, depending on the applicable law and the liability provisions in the transport document..

For example, CMR may apply to damage on a road leg, or Hague-Visby to damage on a sea leg, where the relevant requirements are met.. The MTO remains your contractual counterparty, but identifying where the damage happened helps establish which liability rules and limits apply..

And where the damage CANNOT be pinned to a leg, which happens often with a sealed container, the clause falls back to the document’s own default limit..

So with a multimodal contract you always know WHO to claim against, which is the MTO.. What you actually recover depends on where the damage happened, and on whether you can prove it..

Qualifying points of Multimodal

1. The main features of multimodal transport are: carriage by two or more modes, under one contract, on one document, with one responsible party (the MTO) for the entire carriage, who may subcontract some or all of the modes to other carriers..
2. Using two or more modes makes the physical movement multimodal, but does NOT by itself create a multimodal contract.. If separate contracts cover the different legs, the cargo journey is still multimodal operationally, but without a single MTO taking responsibility for the entire movement under one contract..
3. Transhipment at a hub port, or transloading from one truck to another, adds nothing to the mode count.. A container moved road > sea > sea > road has used two modes, not three..
4. The MTO does not need to own a single truck, ship, or train and can subcontract the moves, but an MTO is the one that contracts as principal and takes responsibility for the whole movement..
5. The terms “combined transport” and “intermodal transport” are often used interchangeably to describe carriage by two or more modes.. That loose usage is where the confusion starts..

Definition of terminologies used in this section

• Multimodal Transport Operator (MTO): The party that concludes a multimodal transport contract as principal, not as an agent, and assumes responsibility for performing it.. A shipping line, freight forwarder, or NVOCC can all act as MTO..
• Multimodal transport document: The document issued by the MTO evidencing the multimodal contract, the taking in charge of the goods, and the undertaking to deliver them.. It includes a negotiable transport document like a Multimodal Bill of Lading, using which parties can transfer title by endorsement and use it as a document of title..
• FIATA FBL: The negotiable FIATA Multimodal Transport Bill of Lading, used by freight forwarders acting as MTO, under which the forwarder takes on the responsibility of a carrier for the whole movement..
• FIATA FWB: The non-negotiable FIATA Multimodal Transport Waybill, used where a document of title is not required..
• UNCTAD/ICC Rules: ICC Publication 481, standard contract terms that apply only when the parties incorporate them into their contract..

The UNECE / ITF / European Commission Terminology on Combined Transport defines intermodal transport as the movement of goods in one and the same loading unit or road vehicle, using two or more modes successively, without handling the goods themselves in changing modes.. That is about the CARGO and not about contracts..

While on the cargo journey, intermodal looks much like multimodal, the difference in commercial usage is entirely contractual..

Global organisations like IRU and carriers such as Hapag-Lloyd describe intermodal as a movement where each leg sits under a separate contract with a separate carrier, as against multimodal where one contract covers the whole journey.. That is about the CONTRACT and not about loading units..

I explained this commercial usage in detail in my earlier article on the difference between intermodal and multimodal transport, using a Leicester to Pretoria shipment as the example..

Combined transport is the most confusing of the lot, because it has two meanings that have nothing to do with each other..

In the UNECE / ITF / EU terminology, it is a narrow type of intermodal transport where the main part of the physical journey of the cargo is by rail, inland waterway or sea, and the road legs at either end are kept as short as possible..

That is a policy definition, created to support moving freight off the roads in Europe.. It has nothing to do with contracts..

In older commercial usage, combined transport simply meant what we now call multimodal.. One contract, two or more modes, one responsible party..

Combined Transport Bill of Lading is the transport document that carriers still issue today, and which means the same as a Multimodal Bill of Lading..

Through transport looks like multimodal on paper, but may not be in substance..

Multimodal means one document AND one responsible party.. A Through Bill of Lading gives you the single document covering the whole journey, but not necessarily the single responsible party..

Historically, the issuing carrier acted as carrier for its own leg only, usually the sea leg, and merely arranged the other legs on the contract owner’s behalf..

The term is not used consistently.. Some through bills do make the issuing carrier responsible throughout.. Where that undertaking covers two or more modes, they function like a multimodal contract..

Where it covers successive sea legs only, the carriage remains unimodal.. Many people also call any bill covering more than one leg a through bill, including bills that are really combined transport bills..

Through transport isn’t a separate movement category of its own.. It may cover successive legs using one mode or several modes.. The issuing carrier may accept responsibility throughout or act as carrier for its own leg and agent for other legs..

Only the terms on the bill of lading tell you which.. The document is called a Through Transport Bill of Lading or Through Bill of Lading (TBL)..