Amada Smith

There are many forms of transportation, there are faster modes just as there are slower, with each having its advantages and disadvantages over the other. There are fixed costs which remain consistent and are not likely to change, and variable which can be negotiated with the transportation provider to get the best deal. Some of the conditions effecting transportation cost are:

· Terrain

· Product Types

· Scale of Economies

· Imbalance of Trade

· Infrastructure

· Transportation Modes

Society demands safety, environmental protection, disabled access, and high quality, features which drive up costs (Levinson, 2012 ch 11.).

It is important to also consider accidents, delays, and simply unexpected things can happen along a route of a shipment and adds to the cost.

Operating characteristics including shipment size, and average load also effect cost. While it may be beneficial to contract a whole truck (Full Truck Load FTL) to ship the majority of furniture for a business for example it may not always play out to be the best “bang for their buck” if they have times when only half of the truck is being used. For these cases Less Than Truckload (LTL) would be more cost effective. There are many different factors that effect transportation costs not limited to those mentioned above. Thankfully, competition and regulation help to reduce costs when choosing one mode of transportation over another.

References

Friedrich, L. (2019, October 23). Learn the Difference Between LTL and FTL: uShip Shipping Guides. Retrieved March 4, 2020, from https://www.uship.com/guides/ltl-and-ftl-shipping/

Levinson, D., Gillen, D., & Iacono, M. (n.d.). Transportation Economics. Retrieved March 4, 2020, from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Transportation_Economics.pdf

Mousel, C. Transport Costs. TLMT 501 Lesson Week 5. Retrieved March 4, 2020 from: https://edge.apus.edu/access/lessonbuilder/item/15714230/group/422459/Lessons/Week%20Five/Lesson/TLMT%20501%20PPT%20on%20Transport_Costs%20_Week%205_-3.ppt?lb.session=BE3A6C860ABEA4EAA9ED87D8543CA3FE077610B187136AEF6733B7CC0088B815B794CD5DB47ACC84BEF3E0BB8A0E6BABAA87C770887DF6B197CCCEF02C470DF29DF31646BEC5421918DB3B878CF82C70E48AD4EF12116C86246C595ECBA3DB652379A4563A5F02BE987276743805EF0106EC521647182E5983FFF96776AABBFD3B82760B810C8D7E82EFD470B15388BC.