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Freight transport, also referred to asfreight forwarding, is the physical process oftransporting commercialproducts andmerchandise goods andcargo.[1] The termshipping originally referred totransport by sea but inAmerican English, it has been extended to refer to transport by land or air (International English: "carriage") as well. "Logistics", a term borrowed from the military environment, is also used in the same sense.
Initial human civilization relied heavily ondomesticated animals, such ashorses,camels, anddonkeys, to transport their goods. The invention of thewheel inMesopotamia in 5000 B.C.E improved this efficiency by allowing for carts and carriages to be created, which animals could pull.[2]
TheRomans built a vast network of roads, which facilitated trade across the numerous cities in its empire.[3]
Transport along the silk road, a land-based route, was generally done through caravans, equipped with camels that would carry goods. It was uncommon for traders to traverse the entirety of the silk road - they would pass on their goods to other traders along different legs of the journey.[4]
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Freight transport in the UK was shaped significantly by theindustrial revolution. The midlands of England saw a sophisticatedcanal system, which allowed freight to be transported easily through long distances. Additionally,railway systems were popularized, initially consisting of horse-drawn carts, but switched tosteam powered trains later on.[5]
After the invention of the plane by theWright Brothers, the first air freight shipment was delivered in 1910. While the industry and demand for air freight delivery remained low throughout much of the 20th century, the creation ofFedEx in 1973 revolutionised the industry by introducing specialisedcargo flights, rather than aggregating passenger and cargo flights in one trip.[6]
Presently,autonomous vehicles have been trialled by many companies as a method of transportation, intending to reduce labour costs.[7] Additionally, robots designed to automate the 'last-mile delivery' stage have also been considered by businesses.[8]
In 2015, 108 trilliontonne-kilometers were transported worldwide (anticipated to grow by 3.4% per year until 2050 (128 Trillion in 2020)): 70% by sea, 18% by road, 9% by rail, 2% byinland waterways and less than 0.25% by air.[9]
Land or "ground" shipping can be made bytrain or bytruck (British English:lorry). Ground transport is typically more affordable than air, but more expensive than sea, especially indeveloping countries, where inlandinfrastructure may not be efficient. In air and sea shipments, ground transport is required to take the cargo from its place of origin to theairport orseaport and then to its destination because it is not always possible to establish a production facility near ports due to the limited coastlines of countries.
Much freight transport is done bycargo ships. An individual nation's fleet and the people that crew it are referred to as itsmerchant navy or merchant marine. According to a 2018 report from theUnited Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), merchant shipping (or seaborne trade) carries 80–90% ofinternational trade and 60–70% by value.[10]: 4 On rivers andcanals,barges are often used to carrybulk cargo.
Cargo is transported byair in specialized cargo aircraft and in the luggage compartments of passenger aircraft. Air freight is typically the fastest mode for long-distance freight transport, but it is also the most expensive.
Cargo is exchanged between different modes of transportation viatransport hubs, also known astransport interchanges orNodes (e.g. train stations, airports, etc.). Cargo is shipped under a single contract but performed using at least two different modes of transport (e.g. ground and air). Cargo may not be containerized.
Multimodal transport featuring containerized cargo (orintermodal container) that is easily transferred between ship, rail, plane and truck.
For example, a shipper works together with both ground and air transportation to ship an item overseas. Intermodal freight transport is used to plan the route and carry out the shipping service from the manufacturer to the door of the recipient.[11][12]
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TheIncoterms (or International Commercial Terms) published by theInternational Chamber of Commerce (ICC) are accepted by governments, legal authorities, and practitioners worldwide for the interpretation of the most commonly used terms in international trade. Common terms include:
The term "best way" generally implies that the shipper will choose the carrier that offers the lowest rate (to the shipper) for the shipment. In some cases, however, other factors, such as better insurance or faster transit time, will cause the shipper to choose an option other than the lowest bidder.
Door-to-door (DTD orD2D)shipping refers to the domestic or international shipment of cargo from the point of origin (POI) to the destination while generally remaining on the same piece of equipment and avoiding multiple transactions, trans-loading, and cross-docking without interim storage.
International DTD is a service provided by manyinternational shipping companies and may featureintermodal freight transport usingcontainerized cargo. The quoted price of this service includes all shipping, handling, import and customs duties, making it a hassle-free option for customers to import goods from onejurisdiction to another. This is compared to standard shipping, the price of which typically includes only the expenses incurred by the shipping company in transferring the object from one place to another.Customs fees,import taxes and other tariffs may contribute substantially to this base price before the item ever arrives.[13]
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