It may not be as safe as death or taxes, but at some point you will need to transport something a considerable distance. Of course, for most businesses, shipping is a daily problem. Naturally, to transport your cargo, you will consider contacting a shipping company, for example a freight forwarder or NVOCC. Those types of shipping company are very similar in addition to some minor technical differences and will ultimately deliver your cargo to your door or to the destination of your choice.

The main topic of this issue is the means by which the cargo will travel: air, water or land and, more importantly, which is the most efficient route. The types of transport currently available are motor freight, rail; air and sea freight. Let’s review in detail

Motor freight vehicles are suitable for transporting a wide variety of goods at moderate speed at moderate cost. Road freight is not so good for bulky, low-value goods. Trucks are the most accessible mode of freight transport, in fact they can deliver door to door but their capacity is low. So, from 1 to 5 scales: variety of products – 5; speed – 3; cost – 3; accessibility – 5; capacity – 2.

Rail freight is less accessible as you will most likely need a truck to deliver it to your doorstep. The transport speed is slower but the much higher capacity and reduced costs make this method favorable in some cases.

If speed is what you need, please choose air. In reality, speed is the only advantage for this type of freight transport and you will have to accept the higher price, low capacity, low accessibility and limited types of goods that can be transported. Well sometimes speed is king. Classifications: variety of products – 2; speed – 5; cost – 1; accessibility – 1; capacity – 1.

Well, they are both mostly blue, but this is the only similarity when it comes to freight shipping. Water provides you with the cheapest transportation if you have time to wait. Large ships allow an enormous capacity and diversity of goods that can be transported on board. The assessment of ocean freight is: variety of goods – 4; speed – 1; cost – 5; accessibility – 3; capacity – 5.

Conclusion:

By truck: variety of products – 5; speed – 3; cost – 3; accessibility – 5; capacity – 2.

Rail freight: cargo can carry – 4; speed – 2; price – 4; accessibility – 3; capacity – 3.

Air freight: cargo can transport – 2; speed – 5; price – 1; accessibility – 1; capacity – 1.

Water transport: types of products – 4; speed – 1; cost – 5; accessibility – 3; capacity – 5.

I hope you now have the knowledge to choose the right method for you.

Intermodal transportation is a combination of different types of freight forwarding provided by freight forwarders.