Role of transportation in logistics


Logistics actually has many roles. The role of logistics is transportation/distribution, warehousing, packaging, cargo handling, distribution processing, and information processing, and many systems are in place to get products from a production location or factory to the consumer fast and on time.




TRANSPORTATION


Transportation is basically movement from one place to another as it makes its way from the beginning of the supply chain to the hands of the customer. Transportation not only ensures the movement of people but also carries goods from one place to another and thus helps the economy in the development of trade and commerce. Being one of the most visible elements in logistics operations, this function has gained great importance and interest from the point of view of logistics.


Transportation plays an important role in every supply chain as products are not usually produced and consumed in one place. The third P in the marketing mix, *location matters here. In fact, transportation costs account for a significant portion of total costs in most supply chains.




With the increase in industry and commerce, transport helps in achieving social and economic objectives. As the times are changing and as per the requirements, the mode of transportation is changing to keep pace with the development of science and technology around the world. The degree of sophistication of the various transport equipment in use varies according to the economic situation and level of development of a particular region/country. As the economy transitioned from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture, as well as a boom in manufacturing activity, the scope of development of transport modes has expanded. In the olden days, different modes of transport like humans, camels, horses, donkeys, carts and ships were being used. Today, these have paved the way for new modes of transport to suit the needs of the modern world. Despite the emergence of sophisticated means of transport, the old means continue to serve the society, but in a smaller form.


transportation. Being a core component of logistics, it plays an important role in all management decisions within the organization, from strategic decisions to everyday operations. Day-to-day management decisions also depend on transportation, as "just in time" methods have become the norm for both production and delivery. With the rise in e-commerce, resulting in more and more home delivery of products, transportation costs have become very important in retailing. Especially for products sold online, the transportation cost is a large fraction of the total delivery cost.



Proper use of transportation is the key to the success of any supply chain. For example: Walmart uses a responsible transportation system for the overall cost to the mover. Wal-Mart uses aggregation techniques to drop products onto trucks leaving a supplier for various retail stores. Distribution Centers (DCs). Wal-Mart uses cross docking, where products are exchanged between trucks such that each truck going to a retail store has products from different suppliers.



Basically, transportation serves two main purposes

1.Product movement

2.Product Storage



1.Product movement: (Product movement)


The primary function of transportation is the back and forth movement of a product across the value chain. It is essential that the product be moved only when they are necessary and the product value increases. This is because transportation uses financial resources to cover expenses such as the driver's labor, operating costs of the vehicle and other administrative expenses. Environmental resources are used directly and indirectly. An example of a direct use can be the cost of fuel and oil and indirect use can be an environmental expense caused by air, noise pollution in the environment.




2.Product Storage:(Product Storage)


 Temporary storage for transit goods is expensive. But in situations where warehouse space is limited, using transport vehicles may be a better option. One option is that the product is loaded onto the vehicle and then it takes a detour or indirect route to its destination. The vehicle can be used as a temporary storage option where there is limited storage capacity in the origin or destination warehouse. Another option is to take a diversion. This is done if there is a change in the shipment destination during delivery. Whereas, telephones were originally used for diversion strategies, today satellite communications handle this task efficiently.