Planning and arranging transport

Exercise 48. Read and translate the Supplementary text 2 (ST 2).

Transportation involves the physical movement or flow of goods. The transportation system is the physical link that connects customers, raw material suppliers, plants, warehouses and channel members. These are the fixed points in a logistics supply chain.

The basic modes of transportation are water, rail, motor carrier, air and pipeline. Water being the slowest mode with rail, motor carrier, and air following in order of speed of delivery. Generally, the order is reversed when looking at costs.

The process of selecting an appropriate carrier consists of several steps. First the firm selects a mode of transportation. The shipper must compare the service desired with the rate or cost of service. Pickup and delivery, terminal handling and movement between origin and destination account for the time involved in transporting goods.

The firm must balance the "need for speed" with the costs inherent in the mode of transport. This includes the rate charged for the service, minimum weight requirements, loading and unloading facilities, packaging, possible damage in transit, and any special services that may be desired or required. If next-day delivery is imperative, the shipper will utilize an air freight carrier but will pay a premium price for such rapid service. If time is not a particularly critical element the shipper may elect to use rail or a motor carrier, or may even utilize a water carrier if time is inconsequential. Water-based modes of transportation are the least expensive and are used for commodity type products such as grain, coal, and ore. Some firms even utilize more than one mode of transportation, called intermodal transport, to move their goods.

Once a mode is selected, the shipper must decide the legal classification or type of carrier they wish to utilize: common, regulated, contract, exempt or private.

Common carriers serve the general public at reasonable prices and without discrimination. They cannot refuse to carry a particular commodity or refuse to serve a particular point with the scope of the carrier's operation. Common carriers are liable for all goods lost, damaged, or delayed unless caused by an act of God, an act of a public enemy, an act of public authority, an act of the shipper, or some defect within the good itself.

Regulated carriers are required to provide safe and adequate service and facilities upon reasonable request and are liable for damage up to limits established by the carrier. Regulated carriers can be motor carriers or water carriers and are subject to minimal federal controls.

A contract carrier does not serve the general public, but, rather serves one or a limited number of contracted customers. They have no legal service obligation. They often provide a specialized service and usually have lower rates than common or regulated carriers.

Once the mode and type of carrier is determined a final decision can be made based on other factors. Accessibility is one such factor. Some firms have geographic limits to their routing network. Others may not possess physical access to needed facilities or have the ability to provide the equipment and facilities that movement of a particular commodity may require. Reliability, the consistency of the transit time a carrier provides, is also a key factor. Finally, convenience and communication are other important considerations when selecting a carrier.

Measures that a transportation firm would use to judge its performance include: orders shipped on time, orders shipped complete, order preparation time, product availability, and transit time. From the customer perspective performance can be gauged from orders received on time, orders received complete, orders received damage free, orders filled accurately, and orders billed accurately.

The expansion of the global marketplace puts the concept of global logistics into the limelight. Logistics experts must now manage all of the aforementioned logistics activities within a world-wide arena spanning a multitude of countries, languages, cultures, governments, and regulations. Along with this expansion of the marketplace comes the need for global channel intermediaries. Today's global logistics manager would be familiar with the role of each of the following:

• Foreign freight forwarders—handlers of a myriad of foreign freight services: rate quotes, vessel chartering, booking of vessel space, handling of documentation and cargo insurance, tracing and expediting, arranging inland transportation and providing translation services.
• Export management companies—suppliers of expertise to those wishing to sell products overseas but lacking the necessary resources.
• Export trading companies—locaters of overseas buyers. They also handle export documentation, transportation and the meeting of foreign government requirements.
• Customs house brokers—overseers of the movement of goods through customs. They also ensure that accompanying documents are complete and accurate.
• Ship brokers—sales representatives for ship owners and purchasing representatives for the shipper.
• Ship agents—local representative of the ship operator that handles the ship's arrival, berthing, clearance, loading and unloading.
• Export packers—suppliers of export packaging services.
• Port authorities—owner and operator of the port. They provide wharf, dock, and other terminal facilities at port locations.

The transport system comprises the transport infrastructure, along with passenger and cargo transport and their operating systems. Since human activity and business operations alike generate traffic, the planning of land use and the transport system must go hand in hand. The duty of the Transport Agency is to develop a unified and smoothly functioning system, covering all modes of transport and utilising their efficiency as well as their mutual synergies.

Planning helps the Transport Agency come up with solutions, which promote effective and safe travel and transport chains as well as an efficient transport system while considering environmental aspects. Effective travel and transport are achieved by means of collaboration between the different transport modes.

The most important highway and railway sections, complemented by the central ports and air ports, form the basis for the planning of the nationwide transport system.

The transport system work is a prerequisite for land use planning. At the same time long-term development and efficient use of the economic resources regarding the trunk network of land transport is secured.

The Transport Agency and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY centres) participate in the transport system work, including e.g. the drawing up of plans, letters of intent and the follow-up, regarding both the provinces and the urban regions.

New aspects to the work include the planning and arranging of public transport, developing of the mobility control as well as letters of intent between state and municipalities regarding land use, living and transport.

Combining land use and transport is important in regions where the land use is developing rapidly. Important objectives are a sustainable community structure and competitive public transport.

Exercise 49. Write the annotation of the text “Planning and arranging transport” (ST 2), and use phrases for annotating (see Appendix 1).

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