Transportation logistics in the usa

Transportation

• Transportation is the physical movement of goods and people between two points.
• Each of the five modes of transportation exists because of certain attributes that provide one or more advantages over the other modes of transportation. The attractiveness of a particular mode depends on the following attributes: cost, speed, reliability, capability, capacity, and flexibility.

Transportation Modes

• Airfreight
• Motor Carrier
• Ocean Transportation
• Railroad
• Pipeline

Airfreight

• Air is generally the fastest mode of transportation for shipments exceeding 600 miles. Air Cargo comprises a large number of daily flights in the United States and are operated by private parcel companies such as FedEx and UPS.

Air Freight Capabilities

• Wearing apparel
• Electronics
• Printed matter
• Machinery and parts
• Cut flowers and nursery stock
• Auto parts and accessories
• Fruits and vegetables
• Metal products
• Photographic equipment

Airfreight Advantages

• Make up lost time
• Perishable products
• Urgent deliveries

Airfreight Disadvantages

• Expensive
• Line-haul cost of airfreight service
• Transportation cost
• Transit time
• Increasing handling costs
• Increasing loss and damage
• Belly freight

Motor Carrier (trucks)

• The trucking industry provides an essential service to the American economy by transporting large quantities of raw materials, works in process, and finished goods over land, typically from manufacturing plants to retail distribution centers.

Motor Carrier Advantages

• Flexibility
• Ability to deliver the product to the customer

Motor Carrier Disadvantages

• Limitations by highway weight and size.
• Speed limitations and hours-of-service (HOS) rules.
• Highway congestion

The Classifications of Motor Carriers

• Less than truckload (LTL) - The shipments range from about 150 to 10,000 pounds.
• LTL carriers include Yellow Freight, Roadway, FedEx Freight, and ABF Freight System.

The Classifications of Motor Carriers

• Truckload (TL) - The shipments range grater than 10,000 pounds.
• TL traffic involve only one customer Prominent TL carriers include Schneider National, J.B. Hunt, Swift Transportation, and Werner Enterprises.

Motor Carrier Delay

Motor Carrier Delay

• Weather considerations include fog, snow, flooding, and high winds. Highway congestion which caused by increased travel demand include disabled vehicle, accident, and construction.

Railroads

• Freight trains benefits the nation’s economy, transportation system and environment. However, its use is reduced by lack of flexibility, often by the need of transshipment at both ends of the trip due to lack of tracks to the point of pick-up and delivery. Authorities often encourage the use of cargo rail transport due to its environmental profile.

U.S. Domestic Freight Movement

• Source: TRANSEARCH

Rail Types of Freight Services

• Bulk Unit Train
• Moves very high volumes of a single commodity
• Coal, grain, minerals and waste
• One way (shipper to receiver)
• Mixed Carload
• Moves a diverse range of commodities.
• Chemicals, food products, forest products, metals, auto parts, waste and scrap.
• One way (shipper to receiver)
• Intermodal (container, trailer and automobile)
• Moves truck trailers
• Almost anything that can be pack in a truck or container like: finished consumer goods, refrigerated foods, tools and parts for manufacturing and raw materials.
• Two way

Example of Bulk Unit Train

Example of Carload Train

Example of Intermodal Train

Railroads Advantages

• Rail adds transportation system capacity and reduces highway costs
• Rail promotes economic development and productivity
• Rail supports international trade
• Rail is more fuel efficient and generates less air pollution per ton mile than trucks
• Rail improves safety and security by offering a naturally separated right-of-way for freight.
• Reduces truck travel, congestions, and highway costs.

Railroads Disadvantages

• Railroads currently are used primarily to haul bulk quantities of cargo and intermodal containers over long distances. Unless a manufacturing facility has a direct connection to the railroad, the remainder of the trip must be handled by truck. With today's demand for “just in time” freight, shipment by rail sometimes cannot meet the rapid and flexible demands of industry.