CHAPTER TWO:

MODES OF TRANSPORATION
2.1 Types of Transportation (mode of transport)
Transportation modes can be differentiated with respect to:
the way,
the type and specification of the vehicle used
the underlying technology,
the relevant infrastructure and the nature of the associated
operations.
 The mode of transport describes the type of transport
used.
 There are basically five different options – rail, road,
water, air and pipeline.
 1. Rail way Transportation

 It is most commonly used for Rail operations

heavy and bulky loads over have high fixed costs
long land journeys. because of expensive
 Trains can maintain a
consistent, reasonably high
equipment, right-of-
speed, and can link with other way and tracks,
modes to carry containers and Switching yards, and
bulk freight. terminals.
However, rail enjoys relatively low variable operating
costs.
The development of diesel power reduced the rail'
variable cost per ton-mile, and electrification is
providing further reductions.
 Cont…

 As a result of deregulation and focused business development,

rail traffic has shifted from transporting a broad range of
commodities to specific freight.
 Core railroad tonnage comes from raw material-extractive
industries located a considerable distance from improved
waterways and items such as automobiles, farm equipment,
and machinery.
 The rail fixed-variable cost structure offers competitive
advantages for long-haul moves.

 To provide improved service to major customers, progressive rail have

concentrated on the development of specialized equipment, such as:
 enclosed tri level automobile railcars,
 cushioned appliance railcars,
 unit trains,
 articulated cars, and
 double stack container flatcars.
 Cont…

These technologies are being applied by the railroads to:

 reduce weight,
 increase carrying capacity, and
 facilitate interchange faster and less expensive to operate than
traditional trains.
 Another advantage of rail is that the unit transport cost is low
 Rail transport is more common in the upstream parts of the
supply chain

 The main disadvantage of rail is its inflexibility.

 All train services have to be timetabled in advance
 This leaves little flexibility for last minute or emergency deliveries.
 Trains can only travel along specified routes between fixed terminals, and
cannot stop at intermediary points.
 Most customers are some distance away from these terminals, so they have to
transfer goods by road at both ends of the journey.
 2. Road Transportation

 Road is the most widely used mode of transport and is used at least somewhere
in almost all supply chains.
 Its main benefit is flexibility, being able to visit almost any location.
 Although the maximum speed on roads is limited, this ability to give a door-to-
door service.
 Road transport has the advantage of being able to use extensive road networks.
 Vehicles do not have to keep to such rigid timetables

 Depending on conditions, road transport can normally carry loads up to, say, 20–
30 tonnes.
 The European Union has a gross limit of 42 tonnes and different limits apply in
other areas
 Road transport is more often used for smaller loads.
 These become relatively expensive, so road transport is generally used for
shorter distances.
 More likely road transport is used for delivering finished goods than bulky raw
materials.
 Another problem is that Lorries are particularly vulnerable to congestion and
traffic delays.
 3. Water Transportation
 Both rail and road transport has the obvious limitation of only
being used on land.
 Most supply chains use shipping to cross the oceans at some
point, and over 90% of world trade is moved by sea.
 You can see the importance of shipping to a country like the UK,
where 95% of freight arrives or leaves by ship,
 There are over 300 ports around the coast, and the surrounding
waters are among the busiest in the world.
 The main drawback with water transport is, of course, its
inflexibility in being limited to appropriate ports.
 Journeys from suppliers and to customers inevitably need a
change of mode, even if they are close to ports.
 The other problem with shipping is that it is relatively slow, and
needs time to consolidate loads and transfer them at ports
 4. Air Transportation

 Because of its low unit costs, water transport is the most common mode for
international transport.
 Sometimes, though, its slow speed is unacceptable.
 Airlines carry a significant amount of freight, for products where speed of
delivery is more important than the cost.
 In practice, this limits airfreight to fairly small amounts of expensive
materials.

 Another problem for airlines is their costs, over which they have very little
control.
 They have a combination of high fixed costs (aeroplanes are expensive to
buy) and high variable costs (due to fuel, landing fees, staff, and so on).
 It is expensive to keep planes flying, and there is no real way of reducing
these costs.
 Competition can also be fierce/ aggressive, putting a limit on the amount
they can charge, and this frequently sends new airlines into bankruptcy.
 5. Pipeline Transportation
 The main uses of pipelines are oil and gas together with the
utilities of water and sewage.
 They can also be used for a few other types of product such as
pulverised/crashed coal in oil.
Its advantage:
 Moving large quantities over long distances.
 Despite its initial investment, pipelines are the cheapest way of moving
liquids particularly oil and gas over long distances.
 Local networks can add flexibility by delivering to a wide range of locations
(such as supplies of water and gas to homes).

Its disadvantages:
 of being slow (typically moving at less than 10 km per hour),
 inflexible (only transporting between fixed points), and
 only carrying large volumes of certain types of fluid.
 huge initial investment of building dedicated pipelines
 2.2 Choice of mode
 In practice, the choice of mode of transportation depends on a
variety of factors.
 Perhaps the main ones are the nature of materials to move, the
volume, and distance
Other factors include:
 Value of materials
 importance,
 Transit Time.
 Reliability
 Cost and flexibility to negotiate rates
 Reputation and stability of carrier
 Security, loss and damage
 Schedules and frequency of delivery
 Special facilities available
 Capability
 Dependability
 Availability
Table 2.1 comparison of modes of transport
 2.3 MULTIMODALAND INTERMODAL TRANSPORT

 Organizations best option is often to divide the journey into stages and
use the best mode for each stage.
 This depend on factors like the length of the journey, the relative costs
and the penalty of moving between modes.

 For instance, if you move materials from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia you
might start by putting the goods on a truck, then to rail (for Saudi to
Yemen) then onto a ship to Djibouti, then back onto rail to cross
Ethiopia, and then truck for local delivery.
 Journeys that use several modes of transport are called intermodal.

Multimodal transport is the carriage of goods by at least two different

modes of transport on the basis of a multimodal transport contract from
a place in one country at which the goods are taken in charge by a
multimodal transport operator to a place designed for delivery situated in
different country.
 Cont…

 Multimodal transport operator (MTO) is any person who concludes a

multimodal transport contract and assumes responsibility for the performance
there of as a carrier.

 In multimodal transport, one transport document; one rate and through

liability are used.
 Ultimate aim of multimodal is to make the movement of goods from seller to
buyer more efficient through faster transit at reduced costs.

 The aim of intermodal transport is to combine the benefits of several separate

modes, but avoid the disadvantages of each. perhaps combining the low cost
of shipping with the flexibility of road, or getting the speed of air with the cost
of road.
 Cont…

 In multimodal transportation, one contract covers the entire journey. One

carrier takes sole responsibility and ensures door-to-door delivery is
completed, even if other carriers are used in the journey.

 In intermodal transportation, there is a separate contract for each individual

leg of the journey.

 In transferring materials between modes has changed from a

labour-intensive operation to a capital-intensive one.
 Huge container ports and terminals have been built around the
world to move containers efficiently and with minimum delay
from one type of transport to another, or from one carrier to
another.
 This is due to for instance in the late 1960s ships spent about
60% of their time laid up in port for loading and unloading.
 Cont…
 Technically, coordinated or intermodal transportation could
be arranged among all the basic modes barring/excluding
pipelines as shown in the following figure.
 Cont…
 Piggy Back: is known as inter modal system, which is an
outcome of the coordination between railways & roadways.
 It also called “tailor- on- flat car” (TOFC) or “container-on-
flat-car” (COFC).

 Fishy back: coordination of road & water modes of transport.

 The goods containing boxes are loaded on the trailer which will
be further loaded on a ship.
 At the destination, it will be unloaded from the ship & reloaded
on truck for final delivery.

 Transship: Coordination effort of rail way & waterways again it

functions in the same pattern.
 Air –Truck (bendy-back): refers to exchange of goods
containers/boxes between Air &Road carriers.
 2.4 Containerization

Container: is a large standard size metal box

into which cargo is packed for shipment abroad
specially configured ocean going
containership & designed to be moved with
common handling equipment enabling high
speed inter modal transport in economically
large unit between ships, rail roads, truck
chassis & barges using a minimum of labor
except pipeline.
 2.4.1 Advantages of containerization
Standard transport product:-its dimension are an ISO
standard
Flexibility of usage:-it can transport a wide variety of
goods.
Cost: relatively took bulk, container transportation
reduces transport costs, about 20 times less than bulk
transport.
Speed: - transshipment operations are minimum &
rapid.
Warehousing - has limited risks by its structure
resistant to stocks & weather conditions.
Security: - the contents of the containers are unknown
to shippers as it can only be opened at the origin, at
customs & at the destination. Spoilage
 2.4.2 Draw Backs of Containerization
Consumption of space: - containers of
25,000tons require a minimum of 12 hectares of
unloading space
Infrastructure costs: - such as giant cranes,
warehousing facilities inland road & rail access,
Empty travel:- many empty containers are thus
being moved back to production area.
Illicit trade:- by its confidential character, the
container is common instrument used in the
illicit trade of drug & weapons as well as for
illegal immigration, terrorism
The end..of Ch 2
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