Logistics, in its simplest definition, is defined as the transportation of a product or a good from one point to another. If you need to ship to another country, you should choose the safest, most economical and, if possible, fastest option for shipping your personal effects (household goods), shipping your personal car, or shipping your commercial cargo.
Many factors that need to be managed such as the structure of the product, the budget allocated for the logistics of the product, the location of the product and the location where the product should be delivered, duration, process and climatic conditions come into play in the planning of this transportation. Here, the expertise of your logistics service provider shows itself at the points where these elements are handled with all visible and invisible components and managed and directed correctly.
Modes of Transportation
Air Transportation
Airfreight offers numerous advantages for international trade, depending on your needs. In general, it is not preferred to transport cargo with large sizes and many parcels by air.
By air, it may be preferable to transport small-sized partial household items and personal equipment such as clothing, instruments, and electronic products. In terms of commercial loads, we see that freight with deadlines, shipments made with small packages such as samples, and aircraft are preferred for the shipment of industrial products.
Road Transportation
Road transport is a suitable option for international shipments that are bordering each other or can be reached by crossing several countries by road. However, as the distance increases, costs and risks increase exponentially.
Although road transport is the first and most common form of transportation in logistics, it is both costly and risky. The rate of goods damaged during road shipment is more than five times that of the shipments made by aircraft and dye. Road transport is not an option for overseas loads.
Multimodal (Intermodal) Transportation
Intermodal transportation provides the fastest and most economical shipment possible by using more than one transportation vehicle. If an overseas shipment is required to be delivered in an inland area far from the sea, multimodal transportation enables address delivery. e.g. container loaded from Sydney. It is transported to the port of Rotterdam by ship. Then, after travelling 280 miles, it is transported by truck to the address in Frankfurt.
Maritime Transportation
For transporting household goods, the container is the most suitable option. Especially with FCL Container, sea transportation is the most economical and the container is the safest shipping method as the risk of damage and loss of your packaged goods in the container will be minimized. There are weight and length limitations for airfreight packages. So even if you accept the high cost, personal effects that can be transported by plane are limited.
The variable costs of maritime transport are very low, and it is seven times cheaper than road and three times cheaper than rail. While road and rail transport is only possible on the mainland, maritime transport can be done all over the world. The Multimodal option offers a complex solution that involves the transfer of the cargo unloaded at the port to landlocked cities by road.
Shipping by sea is very fast due to the advanced loading and unloading techniques applied in modern ships and ports that travel continuously for 24 hours.
Interesting Facts About Maritime Transportation:
- Maritime transport is the most popular method of shipping on our planet 3/3 covered by seas. 83% of the world trade is carried out by sea transportation.
- A large container ship makes three-quarters of the distance between the earth and the moon in 1 year. It is considering that the average service period of cargo ships is 15 years. During the time a cargo ship is in service, it travels ten times to the moon.
- What if we wanted to load all the containers that can be loaded on an 11,000 TEU freighter on a train. This train should have been 44 miles long.
- Maritime transport is an environmentally friendly option with low emission rates. With 1 ton of cargo, a freighter travels 7,935 miles between Port Melbourne, Australia and Long Beach Port in the USA. The resulting emission rate evolves to 1442 miles if 1 ton of cargo is transported by a truck.
From Australia to all over the World
Choosing between the different types of freight services with different expectations needs an expert guide. Sydney International Freight, our freight shipping experts, will guide you to help you determine the best freight shipping options according to your needs and budget.
We offer options between Australia and all ports, airports and customs points in the world. Sydney International Freight is at your service for your FCL (full container load) and LCL (less than container load or groupage) loads with seaway, airline and multimodal loading options.
