Transportation Costs and Pricing: A Comparative Analysis of Cost Structures for Rail Motor Carriers and Air Modes of Transportation

Abdelwahab, W. M., M. Sargious. 1990. Freight rate structure and optimal shipment size in freight transportation. Logist. Transportation Rev. 6(3) 271-292.

Transit time is an important element as well. Any reduction in transit time therefore reduces the overall cost of the delivered goods. Transit times can be improved by

Organizations are constantly being challenged to identify ways to reduce operating cost, increase equipment capacity and utilization. There are many variables in why we see continued increases. One of the major effects is raising fuel cost. Companies are constantly battling this variable. This is not the only issue facing companies today. But it is certainly a concerning one to companies who rely on fuel for their company to thrive. These challenges are aligned with rising material costs as well. The economics of transportation affects the lives of all U.S. citizens and citizens of other nations. The

Solely taking a look at the graph, to accommodate future demand for growth I would recommend ocean transportation to move our products from the new facility in China. As we expect demand to grow by 10 percent annually over the next five years, it will be most beneficial to utilize ocean transportation as projected total costs for air becomes higher than ocean above the trade off point of 1,904,761.9 POUNDS. For example, total projected costs were calculated to be at $587,156 for air versus $630,080 for ocean at the end of 5 years. Extrapolate the graph even further into the future, with the expectation of even more growth,

According to market players in the maritime transport, inland logistics are one of the most significant segments still enhancing economic signals in order to add value and enhance profitability. Bundling is regarded as one of the most probable solutions on ways to enhance the intermodal transport and could also improve competitiveness. As a result, the concept or process enables resolving suitable intermodal conditions since it can be utilized in situations where container flows are not economically adequate to meet the needs of a direct service.

Intermodal. Intermodal is the form of moving freight utilizing multiple modes of transportation. One of the most common is rail and truck. Typically, a trucking company will pick up a trailer or a container at a customer’s facility, take the product to a railroad intermodal yard to normally be shipped several hundred miles away (although shorter hauls are becoming more common) to arrive at another railroad intermodal yard to be unloaded and picked up by a trucking company to take the goods to the final destination. The nation’s railroads have focused on this segment of business in the last several years due to a sharp decline in hauling coal. Coal has always been one of CSX’s main sources of revenue. “Railroads wrung efficiencies out of their costs, and discovered that if you make even a little money on a lot of volume, you're soon talking big bucks.” (Frailey, 2011, p. 1) CSX has utilized their own trucking brand to deliver trailers from or to intermodal yards cutting out the additional company in many instances. In this segment of the business strategy, CSX was behind its competitors. The main competitor is Norfolk Southern which operates in the eastern United States just as CSX does. The reason that this information is important is due to investments in infrastructure. Many people do not know that generally the railroad have to fund most of their track maintenance and improvements out of their

Transportation financial matters, the investigation of the portion of transportation assets keeping in mind the end goal to address the issues of a general public. In a macroeconomic sense, transportation exercises shape a part of a country's aggregate financial item and assume a part in building or reinforcing a national or local economy and as an impact in the advancement of area and different assets. In a microeconomic sense, transportation includes relations in the middle of firms and individual buyers. The interest for and supply of transportation for both travelers and cargo, transportation evaluating, and the reasons why the transportation framework is both managed and deregulated are among its worries. Reference acquired from :http://www.britannica.com/topic/transportation-economics)

- Explain the structures of the road and rail cargo industries and the current issues facing the industries.

The Canadian National Railways is a part of the Railway Industry and it is the most popular and longest system all over North America. It is the only “transcontinental railway” company that Canada has which crosses the Atlantic Coast in Nova Scotia to the Pacific Coast in British Columbia. The CN Railway system provides transportation services to coal, automobiles, grain, beverages, lumber and metal products. They use railway containers which is a cost-effective method that helps easily transport Canadian and American goods. CN Railway’s profit increases every year due to the vast amount of items it transports and this causes multiple consumers and businesses to be involved with the CN Railway Company. (Canadian National, 2015).

The difference in the share of railways in the USA and the EU is due to the geographical distances between cities in the USA and the EU. Railways cost less to operate and have fewer emissions when compared to trucking. Yet, the use of railways is limited for the following reasons: (i) building its infrastructure is very costly; (ii) the long lead time required for developing the infrastructure; (iii) consistent-high-volume of the freight traffic is needed for economic viability; and (iv) the need for trucks for the distribution to the final destinations. Trucks have many advantages over other modes of transportation, especially that they provide last mile delivery. Trucks, as compared to railways, ships, or planes have the most flexibility in reaching a destination, and the upfront

The use of containerization in freight movement has greatly reduced the cost and labor associated with moving freight. However, you highlighted something that is not often seen in the books, but in the field. The charges associated with the movement of freight intermodal is often combined into one charge for all modes of transportation used. For example, a shipment can be moved to the port via truck or rail, then placed on a ship to an overseas location, and finally trucked to its destination and the shipping charges would be on one shipping bill of lading. With freight shipments being consigned to one bill of lading no matter how many shipment modes used, does this make the payment process easier?

There was a huge amount of works on the collaboration between trade and transport costs. Improvements from the trade should be balanced the related transaction costs, in the method of direct expenses for the transportation service, because of the value associated with the quick option for transporting goods. Another important locational conclusion influences, mainly for export-oriented businesses, is closeness to airports with the wide transport.

Another substitute mode of transportation that poses a threat to the airline industry is the use of automobiles. Price differential is a factor in why people choose driving over booking a flight. While flying saves a great deal of time over driving, it can be considerably cheaper to drive a long distance, depending on the type of car and the

Passenger and freight transportation systems have a number of similarities in the investment evaluation process, with a few significant differences. The table below offers an initial look at the stakeholders for each and their relative financial interests.

This essay attempts to describe current air freight market conditions, challenges in air freight demand and generate potential solutions to increase air cargo demand. It is divided into four parts: air freight, current demand for air freight, challenges, and potential