Importance of Transport:
- Needed to bring raw materials to manufacturing units
- Needed to transport manufactured goods to market
- Leads to extension of local and overseas market
- Improves standard of living
- Encourages trade between countries
- Leads to different regions specializing in goods in which they have comparative advantages
- Encourages local production
Characteristics of different methods:
- Road:
- Door to door delivery
- No unloading and reloading from one carrier to another
- Suitable for delivery of fragile goods
- Road links are available to even the remotest areas
- Special trucks for special items
- Not restricted by time schedule
- Road vehicle can take the shortest possible routes, whereas trains are restricted to avail tracks only.
- Cheaper and faster for short distance
- Expensive and slower for long distance
- Not suitable for very bulky goods
- Traffic is a problem
- Rail:
- Cheap and fast
- Suitable for heavy bulky goods
- No doorstep delivery
- Not suitable for perishable items
- Goods have to be handled four times
- High chances of theft
- Timetabling is a problem
- Inflexible-governed by time tables
- Expensive for short distances
- Widely available but not everywhere
- Air:
- Fast
- Free from topographical obstacles
- Low packing costs
- Less chances of accidents
- Less documentation
- Suitable for urgent orders, perishable goods and fragile items
- No door to door service available
- Limited carrying capacity
- Goods need to be handled four times
- Sea:
- Cheap
- Refrigeration facility available
- Containerization reduces the loss of goods due to pilferage or damage due to bad weather or poor handling
- Slow
- Documentation
- No door to door service
- Custom clearance takes a lot of time
- Risk of accident
- Waterway:
- Cheap for heavy and bulky goods
- Requires navigable rivers free from rapids and sitting
- Canals are expensive to build and maintain
- Pipeline:
- Cheap
- Difficult to detect leakage
- Not accessible in rugged areas
- Only carries one substance
- Continuous supply
- Fast
- Rare availability
Factors affecting choice of method:
- Nature of goods
- Quantity
- Value of goods
- Risk of damage
- Urgency
- Convenience
- Cost
- Door-to-door service
- Availability
- Security
- Reliability
Modes of transport:
- Passenger train:
- Governed by time tables
- Cheap and fast over long distance
- Not available everywhere
- No door to door service
- Ferry:
- Used for local transport
- Specially designed ships
- For carrying passengers for fairly short distances
- Delivery vans:
- Owned by some companies and businesses
- Wholesalers detainer goods to retailers
- Mail order businesses deliver goods through them
Benefits to a business on having own transport:
- Convenient
- Reliable availability
- Cautions and careful handling
- High security
- Expensive
- Needs regular maintenance
- Wages to drivers
- Only for those businesses who deliver on regular basis
- Containerization:
- Involves the stacking of goods in large metal containers
- 20ft x 8ft x 8ft or 40ft x 8ft x 8ft
- Waterproof
- Weatherproof
- Advantages/reasons for increased use:
- Increased security
- Increased protection-water and weatherproof
- Items don’t break
- Containers can’t get lost they are transferable due to their code name
- Available worldwide
- Reduces transport cost to the harbor
- Less handling charges
- Quicker turn-round time
- Other trends in transportation:
- Charter transport:
- Flight hired by a firm or person which is not scheduled
- For very precious and perishable goods
- Very expensive
- Not for regular use
- As per the need of customer
- Express road routes:
- Fast road transport
- Better roads
- Quicker
- Less chances of accident
- Good for vehicles
- Convenient for custom officers to check trucks
- Changes in use of rail transport”
- Fast railway operation
- Bullet cargo trains save time
- Less chances of accident
- Cheaper than air transport
- Transport documents:
- Delivery/consignment note:
- This document is sent with goods
- It allows the purchaser to check the items received against those listed in the note.
- The purchaser signs this note which means that he has accepted the consignment without any flaw.
- The note is then handed over to whosoever had delivered the goods.
- Bill of lading:
- States the quantity and provides the value, description shipping marks of goods sent by ship.
- Also contains the name of ship, port of departure and destination of goods.
- It is in sets of two or more transferable copies, all of which are signed by the master of ship.
- It is a receipt of goods in good condition on board.
- When delivery of goods has taken place, all other copies are considered invalid.
- It helps in recording statistics.
- It allows custom authorities to check whether the goods are taxable or not.
- Airway bills:
- It is used whenever a consignment is sent by air
- It is prepared in triplicate by consigner.
- It is an evidence of contract of carriage and note of flight charges.
- One copy is signed by the consigner, one copy travels with the goods and one is signed by the carrier and returned to the consigner.
- International transport:
Services offered at sea ports:
- Provision and maintenance of deep water whirrs and control of harbor traffic.
- Maintenance and control of navigation with port limits.
- Provision and maintenance of efficient navigational aids.
- Provision and maintenance of berthing facility.
- Recording of details and particulars of goods from a ship.
- Provision of dry and wet docks to repair ships.
- Provision of fire brigade and security services.
- Licensing of harbor and pleasure craft used with port limit.
- Maintenance of bonded warehouses
- Maintenance of roads and railways within the port area.
- Improvement and expansion of port facilities.
- Make terminals in deep sea to provide clear access to the port for ships.
- Provide pilots for ships.
- The port authorities have to build a road to provide access to the main market city area.
- As they own the port, they have to provide office space and communication facilities to customs etc.
Services offered at airports:
- Approving airport licenses and permits.
- Conducting bilateral airport negotiations.
- Providing legal advice on air legislation.
- Maintain statistical record.
- Control air traffic.
- Providing search and rescue services.
- Providing aeronautical information.
- Providing radio navigation to aircrafts.
- Providing communication services between aircraft and ground units.
- Fire fighting facility.
- First aid associated staff.