PurposeThe first purpose is to assess the quality of containerized multimodal export and the second is to develop and demonstrate the design of a service network with quality approach.Design/methodology/approachThe article used the structural equation model to develop a model to measure the quality of multimodal transportation for containerized exports and finalized the model with an alternative approach. The evolutionary algorithm had been used to design a service network based on quality.FindingsProvided factors affecting quality of multimodal transportation and reverse to one hypothesis, the construct variation in cost, time shape and quantity did not affect the quality of multimodal transportation for containerized exports. The model without variation construct was finalized by exploring causality.Research limitations/implicationsThis research had scope till container loading onto the vessel and assessed the quality for containerized cargo only, and second research purpose is limited by assumed values of fitness function and the limited number of nodes, in service network design demonstration.Practical implicationsThis research provided a tool to measure the quality of multimodal transportation for containerized exports and demonstrated the field application of the model developed in service network design. This approach included all factors applicable across the container movement. The integrated approach of the article provided an organized method to design a service network for containerized exports.Originality/valueThis work provided the tool to assess the quality of multimodal transportation for containerized exports and developed an approach to design a service network of multimodal transportation based on quality. This approach has considered the factors of multimodal transportation comprehensively in contrast to the optimization approaches based on operation research techniques.