Every day, millions of things are transferred from one place to another, things like food, medicines, clothes, toys, machines, and more. The way these goods travel from one city or country to another is called freight service.
There are many different types of freight services that help stores and people get their products. Five types are briefly discussed below.
Road Freight Service
Road freight means moving or transferring goods on trucks, or vans. This is the most common way to move things because roads connect almost everywhere. Trucks can take goods from a factory to a shop or even at your home. Trucks moving on the roads full of food material or furniture on the road, is the example of road freight.
This type of freight service is great for short distances, or when something needs to be delivered within the same city location. It’s fast, flexible, and can carry almost anything. However, trucks can get delayed by traffic or bad weather, but still it is one of the easiest and most useful freight services.
Rail Freight Service
Rail freight means carrying goods on trains. Trains are strong and can also transport heavy materials easily, heavy things like coal, bikes, cars, or grains. It is suitable for long distances between cities or across countries.
Rail freight is cheaper than trucks for big loads, and it’s also good for the environment because trains use less fuel. The only problem is that trains can’t go everywhere, they can only travel where there are train tracks, so the material then further needs to be transferred to its location by another transport service once it reaches the train stop.
Air Freight Service
There is also a way to move goods by airplanes, and this process is called air freight. This is the fastest way to send things, especially to another country. It’s often used for important or urgent items like medicine, documents, or electronics. For example, if a store in another country needs new phones quickly, or there is a medical emergency somewhere, air freight will be helpful to deliver required material or medicines fast.
Air freight is time saving and safe, but it’s also expensive. Airplanes can’t carry very heavy or large things. So, it’s used only when it really matters.
Sea Freight Service
Sea freight means sending goods by ships, this is also called ocean freight. Ships are huge and can carry thousands of containers filled with different products. This is the main way goods are transported or moved between different countries.
Sea freight is cheaper than air freight, but it is slow. It’s perfect for things that do not need to be delivered fast, like cars, toys, clothes, or building materials. For example, if toys are made in one country and sold in another, they usually travel by ship.
Combined Freight Service
Sometimes, goods travel using more than one type of transport. For example, a shipment may go by ship first, then by train, and finally by truck to reach a store. This is called intermodal freight.
Using different methods helps save time and money. It also makes sure that goods can reach even faraway places. For instance, a container can come by ship from another country and then be moved by train and truck without opening it until it reaches the customer.
