Also commonly known as ground transportation, the term land transportation covers road and rail freight transportation. Shipping parcels across land involve either trucks or trains as transportation vehicles.
What Is Land Transportation Mainly Used For?
- Domestic Shipments: While domestic shipping carriers often also offer air transportation, it’s not utilized all the time, especially when time isn’t a factor. Land transportation is often more affordable than other freight types, and an added bonus is that there are a variety of carriers to choose from.
- Last-Mile Transportation: The last leg of the shipping process is referred to as last-mile delivery, which moves the cargo from its distribution centre to its final destination, either a brick and mortar retail store, or oftentimes the door of the customer who purchased the product. Learn more about last-mile transportation and its importance here: What is Last-Mile Delivery?
Advantages of Land Transportation
- Cost-Effective: In the grand scheme of things, land transportation comes with relatively lower costs in regard to packing fees and fuel costs.
- Versatile & Flexible: In domestic shipping, the use of land transportation such as trucks and trains can be versatile. These vehicles are capable of handling short and long hauls, and trucks can reach almost everywhere, even rural areas. And with extensive road networks, land transportation is flexible and can accommodate ongoing traffic jams to ensure timely deliveries.
- Convenient & Trackable: Oftentimes with truck deliveries, land transportation involves door-to-door services. An added bonus is that if the freight is travelling domestically, GPS tracking becomes easier and customers can easily track and trace their shipments.
Disadvantages of Land Transportation
- Inefficiency: As a trade-off for being cost-effective, using land transportation may mean that shipments arrive at their destinations at a slower rate. Air freight can cover longer distances in the same period of time, but when it comes to shipments that aren’t time-sensitive, land transportation can be used to save business costs.
- Dependent on Weather: In the cases of natural weather disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, intense storms, or fire, land transportation may be incredibly delayed. While trucks may be able to reroute their journeys, it still poses a danger for the drivers. And since trains are dependent on the rail system, shipments on freight trains will be forced to stop until the weather clears.
Contact SFI!
Both international and domestic shipments need land transportation, whether for last-mile transportation or for the entire shipping journey. Luckily, SFI has our own truck fleets available for you! If you need any assistance regarding freight forwarding, contact SFI today, and we’ll take care of your shipping needs. We have professionals ready to help smooth any shipping problems you may have. Email us at info@sfi.com or call us at (909) 594-3400.
