Why do I care about intermodal?

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Intermodal is the name given to the vast transportation system in which containers are taken around the world by ship, railroads and trucks. These containers hold almost every product that we as New Jersey residents purchase and consume on a daily basis. Even if you don't care about how your designer jeans got to the store you bought them from, "intermodal" is leading to a lot more trucking accidents every day that cause serious injuries to New Jersey drivers.  The number of intermodal containers being shipped increases every year. In 2012 it increased by 5.9 percent from 2011, which was the third year in a row that container volume rose. More containers means more trucks, with 67 percent of all freight in the United States shipped by trucks.  More trucks means more truck drivers who travel long routes and often push themselves to the limits resulting in accidents caused by a truck running a car off of the road, rear-ending another vehicle or changing lanes. Did you know that there were 793,470 truck drivers on the roads in 2012, according to U.S. Department of Labor data?  The number of truck drivers increases each day as the demand for them grows. There were 12.5 billion tons of freight shipped in 2010. That number is expected to increase to 18.5 billion over the next three decades. That is an estimated $21.7 billion worth of freight being shipped in one year.  Intermodal may not seem like a big deal, but an accident can change the life of a victim. Personal injury attorneys help make sure that the victim is compensated when truck driver negligence is the cause of their pain.  Source: Insurance Journal, "10 Things to Know About the Trucking Industry," May 13, 2013