Freight transport, also referred as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been extended to refer to transport by land or air as well. "Logistics", a term borrowed from the military environment, is also used in the same sense.
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers. Containerization, also referred as container stuffing or container loading, is the process of unitization of cargoes in exports. Containerization is the predominant form of unitization of export cargoes, as opposed to other systems such as the barge system or palletization. The containers have standardized dimensions. They can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another—container ships, rail transport flatcars, and semi-trailer trucks—without being opened. The handling system is mechanized so that all handling is done with cranes and special forklift trucks. All containers are numbered and tracked using computerized systems.
Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption according to the needs of customers. Logistics management is a component that holds the supply chain together. The resources managed in logistics may include tangible goods such as materials, equipment, and supplies, as well as food and other consumable items.
Cargo airlines are airlines mainly dedicated to the transport of cargo by air. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines. In 2018, airline cargo traffic represented 262,333 million tonne-kilometres with a 49.3% load factor: 52.1% for dedicated cargo operations, and 47.9% within mixed operations.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has expanded to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost, two services that pass on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.
In transportation, freight refers to goods conveyed by land, water or air, while cargo refers specifically to freight when conveyed via water or air. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in case of goods in the cold-chain, because the perishable inventory is always in transit towards a final end-use, even when it is held in cold storage or other similar climate-controlled facilities, including warehouses.
China Ocean Shipping Company, Limited, formerly China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, commonly known for its abbreviated name COSCO Group, or simply, COSCO, is one of the major holding companies for COSCO Shipping, one of the world's largest shipping companies. COSCO Shipping was formed in January 2016 by a merger of COSCO and China Shipping Group as one conglomerate. It is a state-owned enterprise.
CMA CGM is a French shipping and logistics company founded in 1978 by Jacques Saadé.
The Rhenus Group is an international logistics service provider based in Holzwickede near Dortmund, Germany. The company has branches in Europe, India, North, Central and South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. It is a subsidiary of German Rethmann Group.
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates U.S. oceanborne transportation and the United States Merchant Marine. It is chaired by Daniel B. Maffei.
DB Cargo France is a French rail freight operator. It is presently a subsidiary of the German state-owned logistics company DB Cargo.
SBB Cargo is a subsidiary of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) specialising in railfreight and is operated as the Freight division. Swiss Federal Railways is a former state-owned and -controlled company that was transformed in 1999 into a joint-stock company under special legislation following the first Swiss railway reform and divided up into three independent divisions: Passenger, Freight and Infrastructure. The headquarters of Swiss Federal Railways SBB Cargo AG, the Freight division's official designation, are in Olten. In 2013, SBB Cargo had 3,061 employees and achieved consolidated sales of CHF 953 million. In Switzerland, SBB Cargo is the market leader in rail freight, transporting over 175,000 tons of goods every day. This corresponds to the weight of 425 fully loaded jumbo jets.
Delmas Shipping, based in Le Havre, France, was a containerized-freight and ro-ro shipping company, mainly carrying trade between western Europe and Africa. It was the largest cargo carrier between European and African ports, and Europe's oldest extant shipping line. Delmas was bought by CMA CGM Group from the Bolloré Group for €470 million in 2005, and fully integrated into its parent in March 2016.
Saia is an American less than truckload (LTL) trucking company, that originated in Houma, Louisiana in 1924. With original operation occurring in Louisiana and Texas for the first fifty years, expansion came after 1980 when coverage began reaching into more states within the South. Further expansion happened through mergers with other companies, which allowed Saia to provide service for thirty six states. Saia ranks within the top ten of LTL carriers in the United States, with revenues of over $1.8 billion in 2020.
Europorte Channel is a rail freight train operator which operates rail freight services between France and the United Kingdom through the Channel Tunnel. It is a subsidiary of Europorte.
SNCF Logistics was the division of the SNCF group responsible for freight transportation and logistics.
Bolloré Group operates in Africa since 1927. In 2008, Bolloré Transport & Logistics was established to consolidate the Bolloré Group infrastructure and logistic activities across the African continent.
Bolloré Logistics is a transport and logistics company of CMA CGM. It offers five types of services, including multimodal transport, customs and regulatory compliance, logistics, global supply chain, and industrial projects.
CEVA Logistics is a global logistics and supply chain company that operates both freight management and contract logistics. It was purchased by the CMA CGM group in 2019. Since this purchase, CMA CGM has acquired other logistics and transportation companies to merge with and develop CEVA Logistics, such as Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services and GEFCO.
The freight technology sector, also known as FreightTech, refers to software companies and technologies which assist in supply chain management and the movement of freight. In the five years following 2014, investment in FreightTech companies grew from $118 million to $3 billion per year.
