Cargo was shipload once, but now it covers all kind of freight, including those which are carried by train, van, truck etc.
In economics, cargo or freight is an article, good, material, merchandise or wares conveyed or transported by water, air or land. This term is also used for goods in the temperature controlled supply chain or simply, cold chain. A cold chain or cool chain maintains the desired low-temperature range for a perishable inventory before its final end use.
Cargo transport or freight transport is the physical process of transporting cargo, commodities and merchandise goods generally for commercial gain via different modes. The term logistics is borrowed from the military environment, is nowadays commonly used in a similar manner.
There are three modes of cargo transportation:-
- Marine
- Road
- Air
Marine
Throughout the written history, freight has widely been transported via sea. Albeit its importance has now reduced due to the innovation of aviation, it is still quite effective for short trips as well as pleasure voyages. Interestingly, transport by sea is cheaper than transport by air in spite of fluctuating exchange rates. Water Transport can be realized over minor to major distance by ship, boat, or barge over oceans and lakes be it for commerce, recreation or military reasons. Moreover, water transport is cost effective with regular schedulable cargoes especially for heavy or bulk goods, such as coal, ores or food grains. However, it becomes very impractical when delivery of goods is time bound, such as perishable foodstuff or other produce.
Road
Transportation by road can be categorised widely into two parts i.e. the transportation of goods and people. Many countries have different safety regulations and licensing requirements which ensure that these two industries are separated. In that sense, cargo may be transported by trucks and on the other hand people maybe transported by public transit. Albeit trains lack flexibility, it is capable of carrying a large amount of water, coal or cement. Moreover, the rail freight generally has a direct route and is more economic, energy efficient and highly effective medium. Furthermore, it has more environmental benefits and is cheap, therefore the government is encouraging shippers to use train as a medium of transport more often.
Air
Air transport is one of the huge category of logistics network. From Cargolux to FedEx Express, every network controls and manages the control of good and services from the source if production to the place of final use. Items are stored in warehouses and shipped within the country as well as across the world via commercial and private planes. The advantages of this mode are that it has high speed and goods can be transported to different places conveniently, and hence can carry perishable goods too. It is free from physical barriers such as rivers, mountains and valleys.
