As you know, railway shipment has been used earlier than the trucks. We can mention the main distinguishing features of these modes of transportation. They are:
- Dependence on the track. There are no railway tracks in some villages and mountainous districts. The trucks don’t depend on special routes. The cargo can be delivered by the trucks on soil and asphalt routes.
- Unification of the wagons. The load capacity of the railway transport makes the transportation unprofitable if the cargo tonnage is less than 121-154 thousand pounds. The trucks can be managed more flexibly.
- Different amounts of stuff. Let’s imagine an extra long route. Speaking about railway transport, only 2-3 brigades of machinists are needed. As for the trucks, hundreds of drivers need to be engaged.
- Use different types of fuel. Trucks use diesel, and its cost is getting higher all the time. Railway transport can use cheaper types of fuel.
Advantages and disadvantages of railway transport
The main advantage of railway transport is a lower price. The other benefits are:
- Transport doesn’t depend on the weather conditions – the exception is an ice and the snowdrift;
- Possibility to transport any kind of cargo – including liquids, containers, and bulk cargo.
As for the lifting works, there are any distinguishing features between trucks and railways.
The disadvantages of the railway transport are:
- Low speed – compared with trucks;
- Difficulties in logistics and monitoring of the cargo;
- Difficulties in putting the trucks to the sender’s warehouse.
Advantages of the trucks
If you compare railway and truck shipments by size, the first type of transportation is better for industrial cargo. It means it’s better to transport metal, coal, ore, and construction materials. But the criteria of modern logistics consider the speed of ltl delivery and a variety of the trucks according to the optimal loading capacity.
The advantages of the truck delivery are:
- the maneuverability of the trucks – it is possible to unload the goods in the cities;
- address delivery – it is often called ‘door to door’ delivery;
- quick route changes – especially when a driver needs to take extra part of the cargo during the route;
- cargo monitoring during the run – with the help of GPS devices.
Speaking about the moving of the flats and offices, as well as goods delivery to the opt and agricultural markets, there is only one alternative. It’s truck transportation.
Planning the transportation of bid parts of goods, which is not urgent, you should take into consideration railway transport. It’s economically beneficial. So, this way of delivery is used by the metallurgic and machine-building plants, big agricultural enterprises, and coal mines. In other cases, when you need to deliver standard parts of goods to not so far destinations, it’s better to use trucks. Sending the goods by the trucks, you will know the exact delivery time. Moreover, your shipment will be always under control.