Transportation: Physical mental strain on the body is unavoidable when we go out for shopping. Transportation or transport is the act of moving people, animals, and products from one place to another. Therefore, transportation is described as a specific movement of an object or organism from a point A to another point B. The objects that can be considered as transportation include trains, automobiles, trucks, buses, airplanes, boats, and even ships. All of these modes of transportation can be traced back to ancient times when horseback riding was the preferred means of transport of people.
The evolution of transportation: transport industry came a long way since then. Transportation was initially defined in terms of load movement, distance, and time. But with the developments in engineering, transportation started to have more complex definition especially in the context of time, cost, safety, environmental issues, and reliability. These issues are discussed further in the following paragraphs. We shall discuss some main modes of transportation for business and other organizations.
Road Transport: The major mode of travel for most developed countries is by road. Auto transportation such as the car and the bus are limited by the physical condition of the roads. Air transport and rail transport are time and cost-sensitive modes of transportation. Rail transport is more time consuming than road transport.
Motorized modes of transportation comprise of trucks, buses, coaches, and rails. There are mainly three types of motorized mode of transportation namely railway freight, air freight and trucking. Railway freight is carried by trains that can either operate on their own or under the control of locomotives and other rail equipment. On the other hand, trucking involves the transportation of loads by trucks using either manual power or hydraulic methods. The movement of trucking is affected by weather conditions and the presence of accidents and security risks. However, there is a rise in intermodal transportation since it saves time, effort, money, and emissions.
Heavy Lifting Trucks: This type of transportation involves the movement of goods that are too large to be moved manually. They can either be carried on land by lorry or by road. For example, an ore can be transported by a series of forklifts or on a train by freight trains. This form of cautious and careful lifting is used for the transportation of perishable or fragile items and has the added advantage of being very time efficient.
Air Transportation: The major mode of transportation for commercial purposes internationally is air transportation. it is less affected by weather conditions. There are two categories of air transportation namely regional air transport and global air transport. Regional air transportation involves local airports which carry freight from one point to another within the area covered by the airport. While global air transport involves air transport companies that operate from international airports. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Road Transport: Most countries utilize road transport to bring freight to and from their locations. However, road transportation is affected by weather conditions. The delays due to unfavorable weather conditions create traffic jams that cause massive inconveniences on the passengers as well as the cargo. Therefore, this mode of transportation finds its utmost use during national trade.
The above mentioned are the main modes of transportation for commercial purposes. It should be kept in mind that the prices involved may differ from country to country and region to region. Details can be obtained by visiting various government web sites, which offer a complete guide on various modes of transportation for commercial purpose.