12.1 Transportation influences, or is influenced by, many logistics activities such as the fact that transportation costs are directly affected by the location of plants, warehouses, vendors, retail locations, and customers. Inventory requirements are influenced by the mode of transport used and the transport mode influences the packaging required as well as the materials handling equipment. Customer service goals influence the type and quality of carrier and carrier service selected by the seller.
12.2 An individual country’s topology, economy, infrastructure and other macro environmental factors influence a country’s transportation system. Because an increasing number of shipments are being transported between multiple countries, knowledge of a country’s infrastructure can help avert potential transportation problems. For example, some countries may have few airports with 10,000-foot runways, which might reduce the feasibility of moving shipments via air.
12.5 Less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments range from about 150 – 10,000 pounds; truckload (TL) carriers focus on shipments of greater than 10,000 pounds although the exact weight depends on the product. LTL shipments are often too big to handle manually, do not fill a truck and LTL carriers transport shipments of many customers simultaneously. Whereas LTL shipments are routed through terminals, TL shipments tend to move directly from the shipper’s location to the consignee’s location.
12.6 Speed limits and hours-of-service (HOS) rules have long been justified on the basis of safety concerns. However, speed limits influence the amount of territory that can be covered by a trucker during a particular time period (a lower speed limit means less mileage can be covered). Hours-of-service rules limit the number of hours that can be driven in a 24-hour period as well as the number of hours that can be driven in