NTX Magazine Volume 4 | Page 61

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT Logistics

The art of moving things -- food, housewares, clothing and more -- is as old
as the items themselves, as our ancestors packed up and moved with the herds, or
with the times, toward more opportunity. But moving goods has come a long way
since those early days: now crossing oceans, flying through the air, chugging toward
other states or countries, or even arriving at your favorite retailer via highway.
The art and science of logistics not only make acquiring the products of our
everyday lives possible, but also present an opportunity for companies to find wider

Airliner: ©iStock.com/gk-6mt Truck: ©iStock.com/tarasov_vl Ship: unkas_photo/iStock/Thinkstock

audiences and markets for their wares around the world.
With this global economy has come
expanded demand for intermodal transportation, combining the best of ocean, rail, air
and motor transport modes to get products
to market in the most efficient way possible.
North Texas stands as one of the nation’s
foremost logistics hubs, offering intermodal
capabilities that allow companies to create
and sustain a competitive advantage. “The
ability to move goods quickly and efficiently
from the West coast ports has allowed North
Texas to become the single largest port not
located on a border or a major coastline,”
stated a white paper published by the Center
for Logistics Education and Research at the
University of North Texas, Intermodal Transportation and the North Texas Region.
Intermodal transportation combines rail,
trucking and shipping to create a bottom-line
difference for companies and consumers with
efficiencies found in the correct workings of
a well-oiled supply chain. It’s not defined
by the act of using more than one mode of
transportation, but rather by a coordinated
approach to moving goods from one point to
anot