In a historic first, on 16 and 17 October 1997 at the University of Denver, the Secretary of Transportation of the United States Rodney E. Slater, the Secretary of Communications and Transportation of Mexico Carlos Ruiz Sacristán, and the Minister of Transport of Canada David M. Collenette gathered to discuss intermodal transportation issues.

They were joined by a roster of transportation executives from some of the preeminent companies of North America. This meeting, the North American Intermodal Transportation Summit, was held under the aegis of the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at the University of Denver and under the leadership and direction of Gilbert E. Carmichael, chairman of the ITI Board of Directors, and Joseph S. Szyliowicz, faculty director of ITI and professor in the Graduate School of International Studies