What is 'Road Transport'

Definition: Road transport means transportation of goods and personnel from one place to the other on roads. Road is a route between two destinations, which has been either paved or worked on to enable transportation by way of motorised and non-motorized carriages. There are many advantages of road transport in comparison to other means of transport. The investment required in road transport is very less compared to other modes of transport such as railways and air transport. The cost of construction, operating cost and maintaining roads is cheaper than that of the railways.

Description: Road transport can be classified as transporting either goods and materials or transporting people. The major advantage of road transport is that it can enable door-to-door delivery of goods and materials and can provide a very cost-effective means of cartage, loading and unloading. Sometimes road transport is the only way for carrying goods and people to and from rural areas which are not catered to by rail, water or air transport. Delivery of goods between cities, towns and small villages is made possible only through road transport. However, in spite of various merits, road transport has some major limitations. For instance, there are more chances of accidents and breakdowns in case of road transport. So, motor transport is not as safe as other means of transport. Road transport is also quite less organised in comparison with other modes. It is irregular and undependable. Rates for road transportation are also unstable and unequal, while the speed in road transport is slow and limited, which is a major drawback. Transporting bulky goods over long distances is also unsuitable and costly. In modern days, road transport has a serious negative impact on the environment. Building roads requires melting of tar or formulation of concrete, which may harm the associated environment. Since roads have been a major enabler of motorised transport, these vehicles also emit a lot of pollution in the form of Nitrogen dioxide, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and various harmful air pollutants, including benzene, which have an adverse respiratory health effects and a serious threat to global warming. While improvisation of roads is a serious topic of research, road transport of the future includes aspects like solar panel roads and cars where solar cells have replaced asphalt or tar, and there are vehicles with electric motors reducing emission. Road transport of the future aims to work on these negativities and turn them around.

Pros & Cons of Road Transport

Pros

Cheapest means of transport

Road transportation is the cheapest way of freight shipping. It requires less initial investment because the trucks themselves are way cheaper than boats or planes. Truck transportation also does not need to build that big of infrastructure like the other methods of transportation. You don’t need any huge ports or railways.

Another advantage that saves money by road transportation is lower packaging costs. If we compare it to other means of cargo transport, it does not need complicated packing. Therefore, the consumption of the materials is way lower. With recent price rises, every penny counts.

Best for short distances

If you need to deliver shipping containers—full of perishable goods for example —over short distances, road transport would be the best choice for you. Using road transport is the cheapest and most effective way to get the cargo to the final destination on time. Using other transport methods does not have the pay off for you. The investment in delivery may be higher than the gain.

Higher flexibility

Through road transport, you can adapt the routes and timings to the needs of logistics. It does not need elaborate planning with transport schedules and designated routes – also many new logistics technologies make the planning even easier. Furthermore, road transport offers you basically unlimited options in which you can plan your trucks with containers. You can adjust your delivery times and be more efficient than with pre-fixed options.

Road transport is also not limited to what content the containers are allowed to carry. For example, dangerous, flammable, and toxic products can’t be shipped via aircraft, but trucks have no limitations in that matter.

Cons

Accident rate

For road transport, the rate of accidents is way higher than for the other means of transport. Also, the risks are at a greater level. The logistics and transportation companies are trying to reduce these risks by pouring a huge amount of money into the development of security, newer trucks, and training their truck drivers more.

Traffic obstacles

Another factor affecting whether the transport of containers will go through smoothly and on time is the traffic. Road transport is naturally heavily dependent on the road itself. So, if the trucks are stuck in traffic jams for hours, it’s probably not as effective as other means can be. If the delivery way leads the truck driver via a road in poor condition, the shipment can gain at least some delay.

Not suitable for longer distances

As we mention the beneficial use of road transport for short distances, naturally it bears a con with it. The con is that it’s not suitable for longer distances and heavy cargo. A heavily loaded truck can be tough to handle and can also go over weight limits. Breaking those limits can lead to very expensive fines that no company wants to face.

Weather reliant

A huge influence on road transport is the variability of weather, which could strongly affect the delivery time and more importantly the safety of the driver. If the truck driver has to deal with extreme conditions, strong winds, or thunderstorms, the road is not safe to drive on and can even be impassable. It can endanger the driver, other drivers on the road, or even the goods in the shipping containers.

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