The old transport paradigms that worked in a traditional economy are no longer adequate in the global economy. Thus, recent efforts in global transportation have been made to integrate separate transport systems through the use of at least two different modes. This came to be known as intermodal transportation, which enhances the economic performance of the transportation system by using respective modes in the most productive manner.
Inter-model Transportation is one of the major parts of the world economy. International cargo transportation is affected by the changes in placement of industrial production centers. Given the present circumstances, international container traffic has become much important. But still container traffic remains to be the most developing part of the transportation industry. A large number of containers move in international cargo transportation. In this whole process of cargo management, motor cargo transportations are organized between manufacturing companies and ports, between distribution centers and markets, between terminals and consignees. Most often the type of cargo is the determinant factor when choosing the transportation modalities or company.
In inter- model transportation, container transportation has become the most popular and universal form of transportation. In today’s fast paced world, containers are considered convenient because they may be moved by means of many kinds of transportations and this fact facilitates multi-model transportations. Secondly, it is much easier to trans-ship containers than simple cargo. In addition to this, containers also facilitate temporary storage of goods from being placed in the open air which may be damaging for the goods. Another advantage of containers is the safer delivery of joint goods.
The door to door delivery of this joint cargo packed in containers, reduces cost of delivery and raises cargo safety. Inter-model cargo transportation services cost and pricing hinges on many factors such as cargo volume, type of transport including motor transportation, air transportation, and railway, sea shipping, intermodal or multimodal transportations or sometime they may be mixed type of transportations. The cargo transportation services price also depends upon the kind of cargo transportation: international, long distance or local.
There are many things which need to be considered before cargo transportation. First it is necessary to evaluate how and in what cargo will be transported. While transporting liquid food products, such as drinks, oil, vinegar, ethyl alcohol, liquid chocolate, treacle, beers, etc. it is wise to use special cisterns for food products having a sink at the bottom and are graded or marked in a special manner. For example, before loading cisterns, the cargo crew has to prepare them in a necessary way. In this process, the interior surface of the cisterns is treated with the products which need to be transported. In order to transport food items, cisterns and containers used for transportations must comply with the ISO standards.
In order to transport special and complicated products like beer, special containers-cisterns with the facility of maintaining temperature and required pressure in carbonic medium, are used. For transportation of other liquid goods such as chocolate, fructose and other sorbites, it is necessary to maintain certain level of temperature. It is also important to transport these sensitive items very quickly; otherwise they will lose their properties or identities. Chemical substances such as liquefied gas, ethyl fluid, yellow phosphorus, acids, special cisterns or containers are used. In short we can infer that separate cisterns must be used for each type of products. In this regards, grading, sorting and grouping of similar products is made carefully to provide customized cargo services.
For every category of transportation certain equipments or facilities are provided within the containers or cisterns. For example, on transportation of gases equipment for pressure measurement—a monometer is installed. Special containers are designed for free-flowing products transportation, which may be loaded in an ordinary manner or under the pressure. There are also special containers for transportation which require specific temperatures. These are termed as containers-refrigerators, containers-thermoses, etc. Every cargo needs a concrete type of container. The companies having such extended resources are successful in the shipping business as UPS is popular through out the world.
If you want to transport some goods or box cargo, it is important to choose either universal container, or particularized container. Particularized container has extra advantages as it may be loaded not only through lateral doorways, but otherwise too. Moreover, it has some distinctive design features as well. Now once we have decided in what type of cargo or container the goods are to be transported, let’s look into some elements which refer to transportation itself.
There are two terms widely used in the transportation world: “intermodal” and “multimodal” transportation. In intermodal transportation cargo is transported by means of one or several kinds of transport methods without reloading cargo on change of transport. On the other hand, in Multimodal transportation, change of transport takes place during cargo transportation on each new destination.
For example, in this mode of transportation, cargo is transported by means of motor vehicles and then cargo is shifted to an aircraft for another distant or quick transportation. In order to choose the most optimal chain of door-to-door delivery, big and renowned shipping companies such as UPS or USPS have logistics departments.
The trained crew members of these logistic and shipping companies map out the route, estimate delivery time and transportation cost and finally they track down the transportation progress on-line. These professionals of logistics always monitor the market of transportation services in other countries where the company has partners and know tariff policy of each of the partner countries.
Now we can safely say that the factors to be taken into account for cargo transportation depend on the specific type of cargo being transported, the terms of delivery, the capacity of the vehicle and the purpose. While choosing a company for transportation, you have to keep in mind your priorities about your particular goods. It is important to decide how you are going to choose the right cargo transportation service. The considerations that go into choosing a company for the transportation of your furniture are not the same as those that decide the transportation of other equipments.
Secondly, while choosing cargo transportation company, cost estimation alone is not the right decision. This is because there are a number of factors involved in the cost estimate of your goods. For example, there is a marked difference between the quality of delivery and the terms of delivery. They are also influenced by various other factors. Obviously, the cost of transporting bricks will definitely be much lower than the cost of transporting some sensitive pieces of equipments. It also depend on the distance of transportation; the farther the distance travelled, the higher the cost of cargo will be charged.
As a matter of rule, different cargo transportation companies depend on different policies of delivery. They have to estimate the cost of moving cargo by taking several factors into account. The have to adopt a system that is both safe and time efficient. Good cargo companies take into all the important consideration such as efficiency of the vehicle used for transportation, door to door delivery, estimation of the cargo if it needs some extra security and the terms of delivery. Thus it is always wise to choose the right cargo transportation company that can be trusted in providing high quality customized services to the clients. Making the right choice will ensure a safe and efficient delivery of your valued goods.
In case of complex transportation schemes, where cargo is sent part of the way through the ocean and then needs to be collected and delivered by rail road etc, it is important to choose a logistics company that has a number of checks in place to ensure safe delivery of cargo. Many sea ports are seriously hindered by the lack of necessary space for storage. An experienced company can foresee such obstacles and plan ahead in order to obtain the necessary permits. Taking all these factors into account, one must choose a cargo transportation company that offers the best terms of services.
Sometimes we may need a complex transportation scheme for our cargo where we have to send part of the way through the ocean and then the cargo is collected again and delivered by rail road, etc. In such cases, it is important to choose a logistics company that has a number of checks in place to ensure safe delivery of goods. It is a pity that many of the sea ports are seriously lacking in proper space for storage. An established and experienced company can foresee such obstacles and manage in advance in order to make the necessary arrangements. We need to take all these factors into consideration while choosing a transportation company that offers the best terms of services at affordable rates.
Thus, choosing the right cargo transportation is much more than picking up the company that sends in the lowest quote. You need a logistics partner who can make the right choices for you and arrange for the safe delivery of your goods, regardless of the amount of coordination work they have to do.
Therefore, we can conclude that choosing the right cargo transportation is much more important than just picking up the Transportation Company that offers the lowest prices. You cannot compromise on quality and the time of transportation. Most of the time a company offering low rates causes a lot of damage to the costly equipments which you wanted to send safely
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