Logistics and DG cargo delivery currently represent essential services for the daily functioning of every society and its economic gears. This has happened after the appearance of economic relocation and globalization that, every day, increases global communication and interdependence between different countries of the world, uniting their markets, societies, and cultures. This is where transportation comes into play as a key element, since, as an example of the most illustrative, only 90% of the products used every day in the daily life of people or the cities are transported by sea.
Nowadays there are all kinds of means of transport for each type of company, product or need. That is why the selection criteria of one type of medium or another will depend on the factors of each shipment. Even so, the most influential for Logistics services is, without doubt, the cost of transportation.
Other variables to take into account are usually the speed or delivery times, the type of product, the distance, economic and environmental efficiency, the safety of transport or the precision of the different ways of moving the goods, among many others. Next, we will develop the most common means of transport, as well as their general characteristics.
Terrestrial medium
It includes both the transfer by road with trucks or another type of vehicle as well as the railroad. It is the most versatile means of transport of all those that exist because its capacity of personalization is very high, being able to transport all kinds of merchandise as well as having ample options to configure the distribution, as, the “door to door” distribution. In addition, it is a quick and affordable method, especially when the distance is not excessive.
The rail covers a greater distance than the road and is usually employed by factories in the primary sector as it needs high investment and transports large amounts of merchandise, generally in bulk.
Maritime and fluvial environment
The maritime transport is the most used for international shipments, since it is capable of hosting large quantities of merchandise and, therefore, is a very cheap way to transport all kinds of products: in containers, in bulk, etc. For its part, the waterway is a method commonly used in national distributions, given its speed and safety.
Air means
The transfer of merchandise by air is the fastest way to haul products, although its price is not comparable with other methods such as the sea or the road. However, if we look at the speed-cost relationship, it is an exciting option for companies. Although initially, it was a transport designed for the movement of people, advances in aeronautics (larger aircraft with more cargo capacity, etc.) and, especially, the appearance of the container TEU allowed to transport goods competitively. It is the means par excellence for the transport of warlike or military merchandise, and of merchandise that, by their perishable character, need to move quickly.
Intermodal and multimodal transport
Although it is not a means of transportation itself, it is increasingly an option used by logistics firms for international shipments. This type of carrier adds at least two different means of transport, but with the same groupage of cargo, increasing the speed of transport and the security of the goods.