Page 8 - Logistics News August 2016

land transport costs

Is it time for a Truck
Rapid Transit system?

Is it possible to bring about a big change in a reduction of land transport costs? Sustainable
transport infrastructure is about optimising the balance between the positive impacts and the
negative. So how do we optimise road freight transport?

NEW TRANSPORT technologies allow new in plates in convoys of six or 10 trucks. They
types of economic activity to take place have armed gunmen on the front in case
that weren’t possible before. Manufacturing you’re thinking of hijacking them along
and commercial revolutions follow transport the way. But not only copper plates, iron
revolution, leading to social and economic ore comes down from the Eastern DRC
development – these are what is known to Phalaborwa in 20-tonne loads, and it’s
as the positive social and economic cheaper than the rail alternative.
externalities. However, very often one tends
to think only of the negative environmental What road transport gives – which is
externalities, but the evidence is that the very often not understood – is continuous
positive economic externalities outweigh the control of the supply chain. The cargo owner
negative environmental externalities by an or the agent knows where the goods are in
order of magnitude. time and location, and they can control the
consignment and they can change it.
So how do we optimise road freight
transport? First, you identify its strengths; If a car manufacturing plant in Durban
road transport is an on-demand service, wants green bonnets tomorrow instead of
anywhere, anytime, almost any size. Even blue ones because the market has changed,
copper from the copper belt comes down they make a phone call to the factory and
they change the consignment. If you’re rail-

6 August 2016 | Logistics News