Transportation Modes
Transportation Modes and Economics
Transportation modes include:
1) Rail Historically, railroads have handled the largest number of ton-miles within the continental United States.
2) Motor Highway transportation has expanded rapidly since the end of World War 11. To a significant degree the rapid growth of the motor carrier industry has resulted from speed and ability to operate door-to-door.
3) Water Water is the oldest mode of transport. The original sailing vessels were replaced by steam-powered boats in the early 1800s and by diesel in the 1920s. A distinction is generally made between deepwater and navigable inland water transport.
4) Pipeline Pipelines are a significant part of the U.S. transportation system. • Fixed costs high (increase almost directly with distance) • Line-haul costs are lowest (even lower than water) • Long haul in bulk • Liquid fuels in large volumes • Restricted commodity use; regular flow and demand required
5) Air The newest but least utilized mode of transportation is airfreight. The significant advantage of airfreight lies in the speed with which a shipment can be transported
Transportation-Related Service Elements
(i) Speed Speed refers to elapsed movement time. (Time in transit)
(ii) Availability Availability refers to the ability of a mode to service any given pair of locations.
(iii) Dependability Dependability refers to potential variance from expected or published delivery schedules.
(iv) Capability Capability is the ability of a mode to handle any transport requirement, such as load size.
(v)Frequency
The final classification is frequency, which relates to the quantity of scheduled movements.
Transportation Principles
There are two fundamental principles guiding transportation management and operations. They arc economy of scale and
Transportation modes include:
1) Rail Historically, railroads have handled the largest number of ton-miles within the continental United States.
2) Motor Highway transportation has expanded rapidly since the end of World War 11. To a significant degree the rapid growth of the motor carrier industry has resulted from speed and ability to operate door-to-door.
3) Water Water is the oldest mode of transport. The original sailing vessels were replaced by steam-powered boats in the early 1800s and by diesel in the 1920s. A distinction is generally made between deepwater and navigable inland water transport.
4) Pipeline Pipelines are a significant part of the U.S. transportation system. • Fixed costs high (increase almost directly with distance) • Line-haul costs are lowest (even lower than water) • Long haul in bulk • Liquid fuels in large volumes • Restricted commodity use; regular flow and demand required
5) Air The newest but least utilized mode of transportation is airfreight. The significant advantage of airfreight lies in the speed with which a shipment can be transported
Transportation-Related Service Elements
(i) Speed Speed refers to elapsed movement time. (Time in transit)
(ii) Availability Availability refers to the ability of a mode to service any given pair of locations.
(iii) Dependability Dependability refers to potential variance from expected or published delivery schedules.
(iv) Capability Capability is the ability of a mode to handle any transport requirement, such as load size.
(v)Frequency
The final classification is frequency, which relates to the quantity of scheduled movements.
Transportation Principles
There are two fundamental principles guiding transportation management and operations. They arc economy of scale and