Paper:
Evaluation of Transportation practices in the California Cut Flower industry
This paper discusses the summary of the paper published on evaluation of transportation practices in California Cut Flower Industry and supports the paper by referring to other related research works. The main article evaluates the California cut flower industry’s current transportation practices and investigates the feasibility and cost of establishing a shipping consolidation center in Oxnard, California.
Transportation refers to the movement of product from one location to another as it makes its way from the beginning of a supply chain to the customer. Transportation is an important supply chain driver because products are rarely produced and consumed in the same location. Transportation networks are complex, large-scale systems, and come in a variety of forms, such as road, rail, air, and waterway networks. Transportation networks provide the foundation for the functioning of economies and societies through the movement of people, goods, and services. Any supply Chain’s success is closely linked to the appropriate use of transportation.
California growers face major competition from South American growers. South American growers have many competitive advantages, including the favorable trucking rates they enjoy by consolidating all shipments in Miami, Florida, prior to US distribution.
A competitive advantage for South American growers is that they implemented the cross docking and distribution facility which is shared in Miami and Florida. However the California growers ship their products from individually to the customers and few California growers get the advantage of ordering the large volume in quantities and get advantage over the price. Because of having no common pickup location California’s flower farms grow, sell, and ship their products independently. A Carrier must go to these locations to