Intermodal is a term that refers to more than one mode of transport. For example, a station which provides transfers between buses and trains could be described as intermodal.

In recent decades, the term has come to refer to the transportation of containers containing freight such as consumer goods by rail, ocean carrier and truck. The advantage of using containers is that it reduces cargo handling; the containers can be carried on container ships, railway flatcars, and trucks, and so do not need to be unloaded and reloaded when changing modes of transportation.

In the United States of America, rail intermodal traffic tripled between 1980 and 2002, according to the Association of American Railroads, from 3.1 million trailers and containers to 9.3 million.