Multimodal Transportation Market Report and Forecast 2025-2034

The global multimodal transportation market size reached approximately USD 44.78 Billion in 2024. The market is assessed to grow at a CAGR of 8.30% between 2025 and 2034 to attain a value of around USD 99.40 Billion by 2034.

Key Trends in the Market

Multimodal transportation, variously known as intermodal transportation, is the movement of goods through numerous transportation modes such as air, road, air, and water. By strategically combining different transportation modes and leveraging their strengths, multimodal transportation offers various advantages like cost-effectiveness, improved supply chain visibility, and enhanced connectivity, among others.

• A major factor influencing the multimodal transportation market growth includes a surge in international trade.  Multimodal transport reduces handling times, uses a simplified transport and single transport operator, and lowers incidences of losses or thefts.
• The introduction of favourable government policies aimed at promoting multimodal transportation and reducing reliance on road transportation is one of the crucial multimodal transportation market trends. Governments are also actively investing in developing multimodal logistics parks and infrastructure such as rail and waterways concentrated towards multimodal transportation and attempting to reduce logistics costs.
• The growing focus on reducing the carbon footprint of supply chains and the rising demand for sustainable transport modes are favouring the multimodal transportation market demand. To align with the trend of sustainability, key players are switching to carbon-efficient transport modes, optimising and organising routes, lowering empty mileage, and improving land use planning.

Multimodal transportation can rationalise infrastructure, reduce transport and inventory costs, decrease energy consumption, promote the use of appropriate modes, improve logistics performance, alleviate carbon emissions, optimise door-to-door transport, and connect rural freight transport infrastructure to markets.

• Advancements in technology are expected to play an instrumental role in revolutionising the multimodal transportation market development. With the emergence of technologies like the Internet of things (IoT), automation, and artificial intelligence (AI), the connectivity, flexibility, transparency, adaptability, and efficiency of multimodal transportation are likely to surge in the coming years.

Besides, data generated by multimodal transportation systems can be used by organisations to enhance their decision-making processes, gain insights into customer behaviour, enhance the resilience of supply chains, and improve on-time deliveries.

Market Segmentation

The EMR’s report titled “Global Multimodal Transportation Market Report and Forecast 2025-2034" offers a detailed analysis of the market based on the following segments:

Market Breakup by Solutions:

• Cargo
• Supply Chain
• Truck Load
• Carriage
• Shipping
• Courier Service

Market Breakup by Transportation Mode:

• Rail-Road
• Road-Air
• Road-Water
• Others

Market Breakup by End Use:

• Retail
• Chemical
• Aerospace and Defence
• Food and Beverages
• Pharmaceutical and Healthcare
• Manufacturing
• Oil and Gas
• Others

Market Breakup by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East and Africa

Market Share by End Use

As per the multimodal transportation market analysis, the retail sector is adopting multimodal transport options to enhance its agility, improve cost-effectiveness, and gain end-to-end visibility and seamless connectivity. Retailers are actively attempting to reduce their lead time and improve customer satisfaction levels, thus shifting towards multimodal transportation to enhance inventory accuracy rates and improve visibility and collaboration across the supply chain.

The trend of nearshoring in the retail sector is gaining prominence and the complexity of cross-border logistics is significantly increasing, hence boosting the requirement for optimal multimodal transportation solutions.

Market Share by Region

North America represents a significant portion of the multimodal transportation market share. The rise in cross-border e-commerce and increasing trade activities are aiding the market growth in the region. Moreover, the rising demand for reliable and fast transport of goods, coupled with the growing complexity of supply chains, is propelling the regional market demand.

Increasing attempts by key players to expand their presence in the United States and Canada are further fuelling the market growth.

Competitive Landscape

Yusen Logistics Co., Ltd.

Yusen Logistics Co., Ltd. established in 1955, is a leading supply chain logistics company that provides air and ocean warehousing, forwarding, supply chain management, and distribution services. Due to its commitment to excellence and quality, the company partners with different sectors like healthcare, chemical, retail, aerospace, e-commerce, and automotive, among others.

Deutsche Bahn AG

Deutsche Bahn AG has established its position as a leader in the logistics and mobility sector. It develops, manufactures, and operates advanced transportation networks. DB Arriva and DB Schenker are its major international subsidiaries. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, the company is also engaged in operating rail infrastructure companies (RIC) and passenger transport companies in Germany.

Kuehne + Nagel International AG

Kuehne + Nagel International AG is a leading logistics provider that is headquartered in Switzerland. Its history dates back to 1890, and since then it has evolved from a traditional shipping company to a specialised logistics company. With its presence in 100 countries across the world, Kuehne + Nagel has emerged as one of the largest air freight and sea freight forwarders in the world.

Other multimodal transportation market players include Deutsche Post AG, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., Geodis SA, Marubeni Logistics Corporation, BDP International, Inc., T.E.L.S. Transeuropean Logistic Services Ltd., and Crowley Maritime Corporation, among others.