Road freight is one of the most common of all modes of transportation. It is widely used in continents such as Europe, Africa, and North America. The single customs document process provides a seamless movement of goods even across various states and countries.
Road freight provides several advantages over other modes of transportation such as
- Cost-effectiveness
- Quick and scheduled delivery
- Local, over border, long or short haul deliveries even in rural areas
- Flexible service
- Saving in Packing Cost compared to other modes
- Track and trace of cargo and truck
- Complete door-to-door service and it is one of the more economical means of transport.
However, truck transport is limited somewhat as to what it can carry by the size of the vehicles used and by size and weight restrictions. Another limitation is that it is affected by weather, road conditions and traffic.
Multimodal
Another option to keep in mind is multimodal solutions – the utilization of more than one mode of transport.
Multimodal is a combination of different modes of transportation such as rail, road, and sea which allows the customer to cost-effectively manage shipments from start-to-end, ensuring optimum care and efficiency every step of the way.
One such example is the cross region rail network combined with truck. Providers including DHL, Geodis, UPS and DB Schenker are offering such a solution along China’s Silk Road network.