Three type of liner service
As efficiency increased in cargo loading and unloading from ships, it cut time in-port
significantly. With the increase in containerisation, allowing for better earnings and the use
of economies of scale not seen before in the liner trades. Services could be combined to
cover a wider geographic area;
-Hub locations were developed, so that smaller trades could be served using the same vessels
as the larger East-West trades;
- Relay services provided opportunities to cover a wider range of ports by switching cargo
between services at key locations.
End-to-End services
The lines called at a smaller number of ports, with cargo being consolidated at one
port in a given country or area. End-to-end service has one disadvantage operationally that at
each end, the service will cover the same coastal route in both directions.
Pendulum services
The services are joined together as follows:
North Europe ←→ Asia ←→ Us West Coast
The main advantage of a pendulum service is that it reduces the number of ships
required for the service as well as the bunker costs because of the reduced distance steamed.
There are two disadvantages;
-namely the same size of ship has to be used for both trades in the pendulum, while with
seperate services the size of ship can be specifically tailored to the two trades seperately.
-There is a risk that restowages of containers will be required because containers are being
both loaded and discharged at all ports in the middle of the pendulum.
Advantage
They increased the range of trades offered to shippers on the service. (eg. CMACGM
service )
North Europe ←→ East Coast North America (ECNA) ←→ Oceania
Round the world service
This is fusing the three main liner routes into a single global service. In the early
1980s, operator like Evergreen and United States lines set up service with 12 vessels in each
direction around the world with a round trip of 80 days (10 days service frequency). Average
vessel size was 2700-3478 TEU. After calling at the UK and north continent ports, vessels
proceeded down the East Coast of North America through the Panama Canal to the US West
Coast, Japan, the far East and through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean.
Round the world service: two problems:
-The need to link services reduced flexibility over port calls, and balancing calls Complexity.
on the three routes added complexity.
-The ships used on the arterial trades increased in size and the ships which could transit the
Panama Canal become un competitive.
Multi-modalism, unitisation, containerisation
Multimodal transport
Multimodal transport is more than just a means of linking Various modes
together. It represents a concept of a through transport service provided by a single operator,
despite the different modes involves and regardless of the operator actually performs the
carriage. It is concerned with the effective delivery of goods to the user and how operator
and user can inter-relate to obtain the maximum benefits from such services. That intermodal
service itself becomes a link in the overall operation of managing the supply chain.
Unitisation
In the 1950s and early 1960s, improvements in cargo handling were achieved by the
following methods
-Palletisation (pallets or skids)
-Fork lift
-Containerisation
Palletisation raised productivity in the docks from 1-7 tons per man-hour to 4.5 tons per
man hour; but container raised it to 30 tons per man hour and subsequently very much
higher.
Air Freight
The Business of FREEDOM, 32 bn worth freight in 2019.
Rail systems
Rail container concept is also important in the development of containerisation . British
Railway (BR) is the leader in this area as railway is the base of national freight traffic.
Equipment: special sidings; overhead gantry crane; purpose built wagons (60 long: 40+20 or three
20 ft containers).
Later, these were linked into the system with shipping Companies and ports systems. Other
rail container systems in the USA include Container on Flat cars (COFC) or trailer on flat cars
(TOFCS).
-The Evolution of the global economy
-The collapse of empires
-The European community.
-Industrialisation and wage costs
- Globalisation Logistics ( Dr.Elly )
