Intermodal transportation involves the movement of shipments through the use of large metal containers (“shipping containers”). They can carry industrial and bulk goods, consumer goods, or agricultural goods. Usually, these shipping containers will segue through a variety of industries as they are transported from their points of origin to their ultimate destination. Shippers and carriers can be a part of our maritime, rail, trucking, and sometimes air freight industries. For more, see The Power of the Intermodal Industry published by the Intermodal Association of North America.
For workers in any one of these industries, it is important to know not only the dangers they face with intermodal transport, but the possibility that a number of parties may share legal liability in the event of an on-the-job accident where a worker is severely hurt or killed.
Huge Volume of Maritime, Rail, and Trucking Intermodal Transport in Illinois and Indiana
In our part of the country, commercial transportation of cargo, goods, and freight is an integral part of our state economies and one of the premier contributions we make to the country as a whole. Consider the Illinois International Port District (“IIPD”), heralded as “the Greatest Multimodal Facility in North America.”
Here, workers in all kinds of dangerous and high-risk jobs help to meet the state and the nation’s commercial transportation needs in a variety of industries. The IIPD operates through maritime (lakes and rivers); rail; and trucking:
- Maritime: (1) international shipping carried through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the local IIPD Iroquois Landing; and (2) moving cargo and freight from Lake Michigan to its Lake Calumet Terminal and then along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico;
- Rail: the IIPD railway infrastructure through the Belt Railway connects to all but one of the seven North American Class I railroads (BNSF, CN, CP, CSX, NS and UP) as well as the Indiana Harbor Belt and several shortline railroads; and
- Trucking: the IIPD offers commercial facilities built within ten miles from a connection to a major interstate, with I-90/94 trucks efficiently accessing I-80, I-57, I-55 and I-65.
Meanwhile, the State of Indiana has its well-deserved reputation as serving as the “Crossroads of America,” where the Indiana Department of Transportation confirms the heavy presence of maritime, trucking, and rail industries in the Hoosier State:
- Indiana’s three water ports handle over 25 million tons of cargo yearly, they contribute over $7.8 billion per year to the state economy and support nearly 60,000 jobs. Port activities annually contribute $3.4 billion in wages and salaries to Indiana workers and $328 billion in state and local taxes. My administration is now exploring the possibility of adding a 4th water port to Indiana’s economy.
- Each year, 1.5 billion tons of freight travel though Indiana, making it the fifth busiest state for commercial freight traffic. By 2040, freight flow is expected to increase by 60 percent.
- Indiana is home to more than 4,000 miles of active rail lines. The state ranks 4th in the nation in the number of railroads operating, 7th in carloads handled and 10th in millions of tons handled.
Intermodal Accident Dangers: Maritime Industry
Anyone employed at a maritime terminal in Illinois or Indiana will face unique workplace hazards. So much so, federal laws have been passed to protect maritime workers to the exclusion of state remedies. For more, read The Jones Act vs. the Longshoreman and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act for Maritime Workers; and Injuries to Longshoremen and Harbor Workers in Indiana and Illinois: Maritime Accidents.
One of the greatest dangers facing workers in the maritime industry is working on or near a damaged shipping container, where the container may fail in some way. Investigating these shipping containers with proper maintenance and repair is vital to keeping everyone safe.
Repair work for shipping containers at ports, or on docks, ships, or barges may require things like hot work; working with hazardous chemicals (e.g., paint, solvents, sealants); or working from heights at the risk of deadly falls. Fires and explosions are possible in these efforts, as well as crushing accidents.
For more, read:
- Hot Work Industrial Accidents in Indiana and Illinois: Employer’s Duty of Care
- Lockout and Tagout (LOTO) Injuries on the Job: a Top Ten OSHA Safety Violation
- Known Causes of Industrial Fires: Duty to Keep Workers Safe from Burn Injuries.
Intermodal Accident Dangers: Trucking Industry
An amazing number of semi-trucks, 18-wheelers, and big rigs travel the roads of Illinois and Indiana each day. However, there must be special considerations given to the dangers involved when this commercial truck traffic involves a tractor-trailer truck carrying a shipping container on our roadways.
Intermodal container freight may or not board that truck at a maritime point of origin. These steel shipping containers may also be loaded at one of our local plants or factories. These containers will vary in size and weight depending upon their design and purpose: they may be refrigerated. They can be insulated. Some of these shipping containers have racks inside so they can carry goods like tools or machinery.
Once that container is transferred to the semi-truck, the primary responsibility of care and safety moves to the trucking company and the trucker moving the load. There are also dedicated intermodal tractor-trailer trucks that are operated by intermodal shippers, where the container itself is bolted down to the chassis. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) mandates these rigs have specific identification numbers on their trucks and trailers to identify ownership (“Unified Registration System”) which may or may not be based in Indiana or Illinois.
Trucking accidents involving intermodal container freight may cause some of the most horrific types of fatal truck crashes in Illinois and Indiana. The weight of these steel containers alone contributes to the likelihood of fatalities. The cargo may bring its own risks, as well, particularly if the freight is hazardous materials.
For more, read:
- Heavy Equipment Accidents on the Job in Illinois and Indiana
- Forklift Accidents: Serious and Deadly Industrial Truck Injuries on the Job
- Overweight or Overloaded Semi Truck Accidents: Growing Danger of Fatal Crash.
Intermodal Accident Dangers: Rail Industry
Railroad trains carrying shipping containers are becoming more and more popular as a means of moving cargo in our country. Fuel prices rise for trucks, and highway congestion can cause delivery delays. Moreover, trains can stack two of these containers atop each other, allowing for more goods to be moved faster than a tractor-trailer truck and more and more railcars can be added to a single train.
Trains are getting longer and longer; it is not unusual to see railroad trains that are three (3) miles long moving intermodal transport through Illinois and Indiana. For more on the risks of these long trains, read the March 2023 investigative report, “‘The longer the train, the heavier the train’ — Ohio disaster calls attention to freight’s growing bulk,” written by Tanya Snyder and published in Politico on February 16, 2023.
Railroad workers face a variety of risks when working with shipping container transport. Just the task of moving the container by crane from one position to another poses great danger. Derailments are another very real hazard in intermodal train transport, where workers and others in the local area can face deadly consequences.
For more, read
- Hazardous Materials on the Job: Ohio Train Derailment’s Warning to Workers in Indiana and Illinois
- Deadly Train Crashes: Recent Examples of How Commonplace Fatal Railroad Accidents are in Indiana and Illinois
- Dangerous Cargo on Freight Trains Moving Through Indiana and Illinois: Risk of Fatal Train Accidents
- Truck Cargo Loading and Unloading Accidents in Indiana and Illinois.
Justice after Industrial Accident Involving Shipping Containers or Intermodal Freight
After an industrial accident where a shipping container is a factor in the injurious event, workers will need to take particular care not only in making sure they receive full and proper medical and psychological care, but that their legal remedies are fully addressed.
In intermodal transportation, there may be several parties (companies and individuals) who have a legal liability to the victim in a shipping container accident. For instance, there can be truck driver, a trucking company, a railroad company, a shipping company, a logistics company, a freight forwarder, a freight broker, and other intermediaries in the transport or those involved in repair or maintenance of the container itself or its mode of transport.
Sometimes, those who have legal liability are located in other states or even other countries. The victim will have the responsibility not only to determine their identities but to find the proper forum to seek justice.
State and federal law can come into play in these matters in the form of worker protections. Both railroad workers and maritime workers may be covered by federal law. For example, while truckers may be protected by state law, federal law may also require that the case be filed in federal court, under federal rules of procedure and evidence, depending upon the location of the defendants.
For more on worker accidents, read:
- Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims for On-the-Job Accidents
- The Two Main Differences Between Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Claims for Accident Victims in Indiana and Illinois
- Fatal Accidents and Wrongful Death Lawsuits in Indiana and Illinois.
Working near shipping containers is dangerous. A great number of workers in Indiana and Illinois face this risk on the job. Accidents involving intermodal transport can be legally complicated, but there are laws to help these victims and their loved ones. Please be careful out there!
