What are the
Components Particulars of Freight Transportation Technology?
Transport assets fall into one of three basic types; land--
road, rail, -- water—shipping and air. Enabling economic prosperity by
efficient movement of goods is at the apex of any comprehensive transportation system.
Each mode of transportation provides certain benefits when
compared one to the other, however those benefits is usually a trade-off for
some other factors. Road transportation conveys
speed and flexibility features. Rail service advantage is safety and energy
efficiency per unit of weight transported. Air is the fastest but most
expensive mode and waterborne can move massive amounts of freight cheaply but
at a much slower pace.
“The U.S. and Canadian networks of inland waterways are
based on the great navigable rivers of the continent linked by several major
canals. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway comprises large sheltered channels
running along the coast and intersected by many rivers giving access to ports a
short distance inland. The total inland U.S. system, including protected
coastal routes, approximates 25,000 miles, of which well over half has a
minimum depth of nine feet. The largest system is based on the Mississippi,
which is navigable for about 1,800 miles from New Orleans to Minneapolis, and
its vast system of tributaries. This system connects with the St. Lawrence
Seaway via Lake Michigan, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and the Illinois
River and with the Atlantic coast via the New York State Barge Canal (Erie
Canal) and the Hudson River. The two intra-coastal waterways are the Atlantic
and the Gulf, the former extending from Boston, Mass., to Key West, Fla., with
many sections in tidal water or in open sea.“
“In Europe the Danube waterway connects the Rhine with the
Black Sea which completed in 1992 provides a route for traffic between eastern
and western Europe through Germany, accommodating craft of 1,350 tons
throughout its length. Following the Main River to Bamberg in Germany, France’s
waterway network of nearly 5,000 miles is based primarily on its rivers, but
many of the low-capacity canals are being raised to the 1,350-ton standard. A
major development planned in the 1970s in cooperation with West Germany was the
construction to this standard of the North Sea–Mediterranean waterway via the
canalized Rhône and Rhine. In the
Netherlands the extensive canal system based on large natural rivers and
serving the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam has required comparatively little
modernization while In Scandinavia there are two major commercial artificial
waterways: the first, the Trollhätte Canal, connects the Götaälv (river) upward
from Göteborg with Lake Vänern and with the Finnish lakes and connecting
canals; the second, the Saimaa Canal, in southeast Finland, connecting the vast
Saimaa Lake system to the sea. In the former Soviet Union, water navigation
played a major role in the country’s economy; and after World War I its great
rivers—the Dnepr, Dvina, Don, Vistula, and Volga—were linked to form an
extensive network, making through navigation possible from the Baltic to both
the Black Sea and the Caspian.”
Road transportation
Road infrastructures have the lowest level of physical
constraints among transportation modes but constraints are significant in road
construction when encountered during construction to overcome features such as
rivers or rugged terrain. Historically however, road transportation was
developed to to be traveled by non-motorized vehicles; therefore, motorization
has shaped the most development since the beginning of the 20th century.
Road transportation is mainly linked to light industries
where rapid movements of freight in small quantities are the norm. Nevertheless, with the introduction of containers,
road transportation has become a crucial link in freight distribution,
specially, in what is known in the industry as door-to-door service.
Less than Truckload (LTL)
“LTL freight includes freight shipments that do not
completely occupy an entire truck trailer. Most freight trailers on the road
today are 8’ – 8.5’ wide, 12.5’ – 13.5’ high, and 40’ – 53’ long. This allows
carriers to load several LTL shipments into a single truck and service multiple
customers and destinations. LTL freight shipments typically weigh between 200
and 10,000 lbs.”
Full Truckload (FTL)
“Truckload freight includes all freight shipments that
solely occupy a trailer. These are large volume or weight shipments from point
to point many a case as line-haul. Weight limits depend on the weight of the
vehicle and local laws, but typically are around 34,000 – 45,000 lbs. in the
US. The most typical truckload shipments are transported via dry van, flatbed,
and refrigerated trailers. “
Rail transportation
In light of more recent technological developments, rail
transportation also includes monorails and maglev. The average level of
physical constrains is mainly linked to the types of locomotives and a low
gradient is required, particularly for freight. Heavy industries and bulk
commodities are traditionally associated with rail transport systems. Here too containers have improved the
flexibility of rail transportation by connecting it with road and maritime
modes. Rail is by far the land transportation mode offering the highest
capacity. Unit trains with 23,000 tons of coal are the heaviest load ever
carried. Although rail gauges, vary around the world, making it a challenge for
the integration of rail systems across national boundaries.
Trailer On Flat Car (TOFC) predates inter-modal and Container
On Flat Car (COFC) was a system where goods were loaded into a semi-trailer,
driven to the railyard and backed onto flatcar. When the train reached the
other end another semi-tractor pulled it off the flatcar and took it to the
final destination.
The inter-modal transportation concept took it another a step
in the supply chain, loading the freight into a container that could itself be
transferred from a truck flatbed to a flat car to a container ship and back
again without needing to transfer the freight itself as it stays packed and
secured in the container for the entire trip regardless of how many transfers
there are.
Maritime transportation
Maritime transportation is the most effective mode for
moving large quantities of cargo over long distances. Maritime routes are
composed of oceans, coasts, seas, lakes, rivers and channels. However, due to
the location of economic activities and suitable ports and modern
infrastructure maritime circulation takes place on specific parts of the water
world, mainly, over the North Atlantic and the North Pacific oceans. Channels,
locks and dredging are challenges to maritime trade in order to insure
continuity between small and large bodies of water. Presently, there are comprehensive
inland waterway systems included in Western Europe, the Volga / Don System and Danube.
In Canada the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes system; in the United States the Mississippi
and its tributaries. Other major waterways include the Amazon, the Panama /
Paraguay and the interior of China. However, maritime transportation has high
terminal and port costs, since these infrastructures are the most expensive to
build, maintain and modernize. High inventory costs and large capital outlays
are other characteristic of maritime transportation as it is also linked more
than any other mode, to heavy industries, such as steel, petrochemical, grains
and other bulks and liquefied gas with facilities adjacent to port sites and
docks with rail tracks.
Sea Freight / Ocean Freight
Ocean freight is freight transported via ship from port to
port. Shipments are organized into two primary categories; FCL (full container
load) and LCL (less than container load). Containers are typically 20’, 40’, or
53’ in length. Providers often offer expedited and economy options depending on
your needs. An obvious limit to sea based freight is the proximity to a
serviceable port, but is overcome by using traditional land based
transportation to get goods to, and from, ports.
Maritime general cargo classification
Shared Bulk
|
Break bulk Cargo
|
Break bulk
Hazardous |
Reefer Ship
|
Oversize or Overweight Vehicles MMT >4,500 Kilos or >11 Meters
Long
|
Maritime containerized cargo classification
Reefer Container
|
Flat-rack Cargo
|
General Cargo in Container
|
RORO Vehicles
|
U.S. River Transportation
The Mississippi River System accounts for 92% of the nation's
agricultural exports and 78% of the world's feed grains and soy beans. It also
has some of the biggest ports in the U.S. like The Port of South Louisiana and
The Port of New Orleans (NOLA).
Data from these two ports account for over 500 million tons of
shipped goods per year which is significantly larger tonnage than any other
ports in the United States. Some commodities that are shipped include
petroleum, iron, steel, grain, rubber, paper, wood, coffee, coal, chemicals,
and edible oils.
The standard river barge is 195 feet long, 35 feet wide, usable
to a 9-foot draft with a capacity of 1500 tons. Some of the newer barges today
are 290 feet by 50 feet, doubling the capacity of earlier barges.
Goods Movement
|
Commodity
|
Percentage
|
Sand and Gravel
|
47%
|
Fertilizer
|
24%
|
Salt
|
9%
|
Cement
|
10%
|
Misc.
|
10%
|
Air transportation
Air routes are practically unlimited, but they are denser
over the North Atlantic, inside North America and Europe and over the North
Pacific. Air transport constraints are multidimensional and including
facilities such as about 3,300 meters of runway for landing and takeoff and
cargo handling, the terminals. Air
transportation has been accommodating growing quantities of high value freight
and is playing a growing role in global logistics.
Air freight is the fastest method of delivering goods
between two destinations but also one of the costliest. Air freight can
transport items from one port to another in a matter of hours rather than days
or weeks for sea freight. There are some limitations to air freight, such as
hazardous materials heavy materials and other restricted cargo.
Food Stuff
L1 Container
|
Food Stuff
L8 Container
|
Fresh Cargo Dry Ice
|
Frozen Cargo Dry Ice
|
Live Animals Fish
|
Live Animals
Mammals
|
Inter-modal Freight
“Inter-modal freight is any combination of transportation
modes; specifically truck, train, ship, and plane. Inter-modal allows shipments
to maximize the benefits of each mode to ensure the most economical and timely
outcome. Inter-modal also can take a single origin shipment and deliver it to
multiple destinations. The method
reduces cargo handling, improves security, reduces damage and pilferage, and
allows freight to be transported faster from origin to destination.”
Feet Length
|
20' container
|
40' container
|
40' high-cube container
|
45' high-cube container
|
Net Load Tons
|
28.2 Metric Tons
|
26.6 Metric Tons
|
26.58 Metric Tons
|
25.6 Metric Tons
|
For a review of how transportation components interact with one another in a network of prices and services go to https://www.worldcommodityfreight.com/
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