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 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.
