Unimodal logistics is defined as involving two or more ways of transporting goods.
Including both sea and air freight.
It has often been hailed as the most effective way to create the whole distribution part of your supply chain in order to:
- Improve security, which will also reduce cost while increasing reliability and safety.
- Reduce waste, which will improve productivity.
- Make transport more efficient, thus increasing your profits.
In this article, we will take a look at how trains and boats are used in your supply chains, and how they can be better utilized as a part of the entire chain.
First, let’s look at how boats are used in your supply chains.
First of all, they have the benefit of being much cheaper than trains when it comes to long distance.
Supply Chain in Your Business
They do not need any extra fuel or maintenance.
In fact, they can be completely self-sufficient for their operational costs.
However, they are also quite limited when it comes to reaching a specific destination.
- Since you will need to use either road rail or sea for their journey.
- Railways are obviously one of the most favored options because of its advantages.
- First of all, it has the advantage of reaching very far distances, even on an emergency basis.
- And secondly, it offers a reliable means of delivering goods from one location to another without having to use any of the other means mentioned.
- But trains are cheaper and faster than boats too, but are they really the ideal option for transporting goods?
While they can be used effectively to transport goods by sea, and this can be a good solution for some cases, it cannot be relied upon for all.
Go to Positives of Train Freight article to know more about Train Freight.
For example, in case of an emergency situation, the main problem of maritime transportation would be the lack of rail infrastructure in the area that the boat is going to.
So, what happens then? If there is a boat accident, how will the injured person get to the hospital?
The solution to all these problems is to combine maritime transport needs with road and rail transport.
In this case, railway transport can provide access to a hospital and provide transportation for the injured person to the hospital on board.
And then there is a third option:
Road transport by sea.
Road and rail transport are less reliable and less secure than sea transport, especially if it has to go through difficult terrain or in the middle of water bodies.
However, this does not mean that road or rail transport is completely useless.
Just look at how efficient road and rail transport have become in transporting important supplies to disaster zones such as disaster-stricken areas like the earthquake zones in Haiti.
However, railway transport is very expensive and slower, because it cannot travel very far.
Unlike the rail network.
But if the railway network is properly planned, then it can be used to transport products over long distances quickly.
In this case, it can save your company a lot of time and effort, as well as a lot of money and energy.
In the end, it is up to you to decide which option will work best for you and your company.
If you want a reliable transport solution, then it can only come from trains or boats, and if you want a quicker solution.
Then it is better to choose the rail network, but make sure that you are prepared for the higher costs associated with them.
When it comes to shipping costs, there is no doubt that the longer it takes to transport your goods from one point to another. The more you will be charged for the service.
And if you don't want to pay any shipping costs, then you have to choose the shortest way to transport your goods.
This means that, in this case, you should use a road and rail network.
But if you prefer a smaller and easier way, then using boats is the best alternative.
Shipping costs can also be increased by any kind of weather conditions. For example, extremely hot weather, heavy winds, rain, snow, or even ice and snow.
And in this case, the most reliable solution is to choose the rail network and wait until the weather improves.
And the ice melts so that your goods can be transported through the rail network and then transport them by sea.
If your business is not based in a big city, then you will find that cargo logistics is much easier than if it is based in a large city.
This is because the logistics system of a big city is able to handle the traffic flow.
The number of products moving through the city and make sure that goods are shipped correctly, safely, and efficiently.
Whereas the logistics system of a small city is unable to do so.