Contemporary Logistics
Twelfth Edition, Global Edition
Chapter
12
Transportation
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Learning Objectives
12.2 To identify the five modes of
transportation and learn about their respective
characteristics
12.3 To discuss intermodal transportation
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Transportation (1 of 2)
Transportation is the actual, physical movement of
goods and people between two points
Transportation influences or is influenced by other
logistics activities such as:
location of different facilities.
Inventory requirements
Packaging
Handling equipment
The design of receiving and shipping docks
Order-management
Customer service
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Transportation (2 of 2)
Five different types, or modes, of
transportation include:
Air
Motor carrier (truck)
Pipeline
Rail
Water
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Transportation Modes (1 of 12)
The attractiveness of a particular mode depends
on the following attributes:
– Cost
– Speed
– Reliability
– Capability
– Capacity
– Flexibility
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Transportation Modes (2 of 12)
Air transportation / Airfreight
– Generally the fastest mode for shipment
exceeding 600 miles
– Expensive
– Accessorial service, if needed, adds
transportation cost and time
– Best suited for high-value, lower-volume
urgent, perishable, or time-specific
deliveries
– Dimensional weight used for rates
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Transportation Modes (3 of 12)
Air transportation / Airfreight
─ Examples of products that move by air:
Auto parts and accessories
Cut flowers and nursery stock
Electronic or electrical equipment (e.g., iPods)
Fruits and vegetables
Machinery and parts
Metal products
Photographic equipment, parts, and film
Printed matter
Wearing apparel
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Transportation Modes (4 of 12)
Air transportation / Airfreight
─ Reliability is problematic due to delays caused by:
Congestion and resultant delays with air passenger
transportation (belly freight)
Weather (e.g., fog, snow, thunderstorms)
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Transportation Modes (5 of 12)
Motor transportation
– Most important business user of the Interstate
Highway System
– Primary advantage is flexibility
– Cost is generally lower when compared to
airfreight
– Less-than-truckload (LTL) versus truckload
(TL)
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Transportation Modes (6 of 12)
Motor transportation
─ Less-than-truckload (LTL)
LTL trucks carry shipments from many shippers
Operate through a system of terminals
─ Process
From each terminal small trucks go out to customers,
delivering and picking up shipments
Shipments are taken to a terminal where loaded to
line-haul trucks
Line-haul to terminal near destination
Shipments loaded to smaller trucks for local delivery
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LTL operations
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Transportation Modes (7 of 12)
Motor transportation
Truckload (TL)
Close to the amount that would physically
fill a truck trailer
Possible that large shipments from several
customers can be consolidated
Process
Shipments tend to move directly from the
shipper’s location to the consignee’s
location
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Transportation Modes (8 of 12)
Pipeline transportation
– Only mode without
vehicles
– No need for vehicle
operators
– Transportation is one way
– Most reliable mode
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Transportation Modes (9 of 12)
Pipeline transportation
– Tend to be the slowest mode
– Accommodates only liquid, liquefiable, or
gaseous products
– Transport large product volumes
– High fixed costs, but relatively low cost per
unit due to large product volume
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Transportation Modes (10 of 12)
Railroad transportation
– Neither “best” or “worst” on any of the six
attributes
– Superior to air, motor, and pipeline, but
inferior to water in ability to transport
different kinds of products
– Less flexibility than motor carriers, but
more when compared to air, water, and
pipeline
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Transportation Modes (11 of 12)
Railroad transportation
– Superior to air and motor with regards to
volume, but inferior to pipeline and water
– Less expensive than air and motor, but
more expensive than pipeline and water
– Faster than pipeline and water, but slower
than air and truck
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Double stack train
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Boxcar (plain)
standardized roofed freight car with sliding doors on the sides used for general
commodities.
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Boxcar (equipped)
specially modified boxcar used for specialized merchandize, such as automobile parts.
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Hopper car
a freight car with the floor sloping to one or more hinged doors used for
discharging bulk of materials
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Hopper car (interior)
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Covered hopper:
a hopper car with a roof designed to transport bulk commodities that need
protection.
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Flatcar
a freight car with no top or sides used primarily to transport machinery and
building materials.
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Flatcar
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Refrigerator car
a freight car to which refrigeration equipment has added to control
temperature.
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Tank car
specialized car used for the transport of liquids and gases.
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Transportation Modes (12 of 12)
Water transportation
Somewhat unreliable
Slow average speeds
Relatively inexpensive
Focuses on lower value bulk commodities
handled by mechanical means
Many different kinds of products can be
carried
Carries greater volumes than rail or truck
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Container ship
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Roll-on Roll-off Ship
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Tanker
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Barge
a powerless vessel towed by a tugboat
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Intermodal Transportation (1 of 3)
Intermodal transportation: refers to transportation
when using a container or other equipment that
can be transferred from the vehicle of one mode
to the vehicle of another mode without the
contents being reloaded or disturbed
Two or more modes work closely together to
utilize advantages of each mode while
minimizing their disadvantages
Example:
Piggyback transportation
Trailer-on-flatcar
Container-on-flatcar
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Piggyback transportation (TOFC)
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Piggyback transportation (COFC)
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Intermodal Transportation (2 of 3)
• Containers
– Moved by mechanical devices (e.g.,
container crane)
– Provide significant reduction in freight
handling costs
– Are interchangeable among rail, truck, and
water carriers
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Various Types of Intermodal Surface
Containers
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General Purpose Container
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Temperature Controlled Container /
Reefer
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Open Top Container
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Flat – Rack Container
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Platform Container
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Tank Container
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Open Side Container
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Intermodal Transportation (3 of 3)
• Containers
– Airfreight containers (unit load devices, or
ULDs) are designed specifically for fuselage
– Are measured by TEUs (20-foot equivalent
unit)
– Allowed for land bridge services
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Airfreight containers
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Airfreight containers
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Key Terms
Accessorial service Twenty-foot equivalent
Barge unit (TEU)
Consignees Terminals
Intermodal Less-than-truckload
transportation (LTL)
Land bridge services Line-haul
Less-than-truckload Piggyback transportation
(LTL) Rail gauge
Line-haul Slurry systems
Piggyback transportation Twenty-foot equivalent
Rail gauge
unit (TEU)
Terminals
Slurry systems
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