Surface Transportation (Road and Rail)

With advancements in technology and the global trading, the movers and packers now have faster, safer and more reliable vehicles, both on rail and on road. The surface transportation is still the lifeline of economic growth.

In the relocation industry, the need for faster and reliable means of transportation is increasing at a fast pace. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are hence gaining importance in the surface moving and packing industry. They improve the safety, efficiency, and convenience of both people and goods.

The two branches of surface transportation are:

• Road Transportation
• Rail Transportation

Road Transportation in Relocation Industry
The usage of one mode over other, differs from economy to economy. For instance, in India, long-distance transport has shown a substantial modal shift in favor of roads, both in passenger and freight transport, in the past few decades. At present, roads cater to 85% of passenger and over 70% of the freight traffic

The reasons for this can be:

• More roads are equipped with electronic tolling and variable message signs.
• Various passenger vehicles have navigation products and emergency notification systems.
• Commercial vehicles are equipped for nonstop weighing and cross-border credentials checking.
• Transit vehicles have location and communications systems
• Availability of automatic tracking for better management of traffic flow

Road transport has the advantage of being user-friendly. Some of the advantages of road transportation for moving and packing industry are:

• Greater flexibility
• Door-to-Door Service
• Economical
• Easy Tracking
• Easy Escort Service

Further, the sector is going to become even more attractive with tremendous improvements in the road network that are expected under the National Projects.

Some of the common means of road transportation used by the movers and packers are Trucks, Container Trucks, Tempo Trucks, Car Trailers. This transportation is mainly used for local moves or small distances and large distance transportation is normally avoided.

Rail transportation in relocation industry
Efficient freight transport and timely movement of people is essential for the world economy. Hence, moving and packing companies strive to make sure that the men and material are moved freely, reliably and efficiently. At the same time, the positive impact on environment and safety are also kept in mind while moving from one place to another.

Today, moving by rail is very different from the early days of rail. Now a days, rail transit systems provide all the three kinds of benefits: economic, social and environmental. In addition, the relocation companies use rails that have computer-aided dispatch systems. This helps the companies in figuring out the exact location of the goods, irrespective of the distance traveled. For corporate clients, this service is specially important.

Some of the advantages of Rail Transportation in relocation industry are as follows:

• Containerisation facility.
• Unlimited access to most geographical areas.
• More cost effective than air transportation and sometimes also motor freight carrier.
• Can provide expedited pickup when necessary.
• Has the capability to transport more goods in certain trade lanes by stacking ships' containers
• Frequently used to transport ships' containers as well as wooden crates, to and from an ocean port
• Less traffic congestion on the roads

Intermodal Terminals
To make train travel even quicker, relocation companies along with shipping companies, have arranged for "intermodal terminals". At an intermodal terminal, train tracks run up to the docks so that a container can be unloaded from a ship and put directly on a train.

This makes the moving process quicker than loading the container onto a truck and then driving it across town to a railroad and at the same time eliminates the need of a tie up with another party.

Piggybacked Trains - Saving Time and Cost
Stack-trains allow each train car to carry two containers "piggybacked" on top of each other. This makes trains even better at moving mode of transportation. This saves substantial time and cost as the trains can carry double the amount of cargo.