Transport and logistics are important in the success of any product-based business. Optimized and efficient logistics help companies to reduce transportation costs and assure timely deliveries to the users, which leads to customer satisfaction. Creating a high-quality product is just one aspect of building a successful business. Ensuring quick and safe product delivery to the customer is equally important.
In today’s new edge market, efficient and reliable shipping logistics play an important role in gaining customer satisfaction and trust. Whenever the products are delivered on time and in perfect condition, customers are more likely to become repeat buyers. There is a high chance they recommend the business to their family & friends. Focusing on fast, secure transportation and logistics not only enhances a company’s reputation but also facilitates long-term growth by acquiring a loyal customer base.
Growth of Transport and logistics in India
India is expanding its infrastructure to shape the logistics and transportation sector. The National Highway (NH) network has surged by 60% from 2014 to 2023, extending across 146,145 km. These stats reflect substantial investments to improve connectivity. India is the world’s second-largest road network, With around 66.71 lakh km. This exceptional road network plays a crucial role in the movement of goods across the country.
Meanwhile, Indian ports handled 819.227 million tonnes of Cargo in FY 2023-2024, showing steady growth with a 4.45% increase from the previous year. The government is also pushing future willingness in port infrastructure, planning an investment of $82 billion by 2035, including the important Vadhavan Port project.
These developments underscore India’s commitment to strengthening its transport and logistics network. Road transport remains the most widely used mode of transport in India, although efforts are underway to enhance the use of rail and sea for more balanced and efficient logistics.
An Overview About Transportation And Logistics
Transportation refers to the movement of physical goods from one place to another. There are various transportation modes like road, rail, or air. Each mode of transport has some pros and cons.
For example, sea freight is the most cost-effective way of transporting large volumes of goods internationally. It even has low carbon emissions. But the goods can get delayed when the weather goes bad. A business chooses the most efficient transportation mode based on cost and distance to reduce cost and deliver products on time to the customer.
Logistics is a broader aspect of a business’s supply chain management. It involves efficient warehousing storage of goods inside the warehouse, inventory management, and transport to the destination on time and in proper condition.
Sometimes, the Companies don’t have sufficient infrastructure to handle logistics and transportation, so they partner with 3PL Company. Third-party logistics Company takes charge of efficient pick-pack warehousing, labeling, packing, and transportation. 3PL logistics and transportation allow the business to focus on core activities like exploring new markets or developing new products.
What Is The Difference Between Logistics And Transportation?
- Transportation involves moving goods from one location to another by any mode, such as rail, road, or air.
- Logistics is a broader process of planning, implementing, storage, packing, labelling, distribution, and reverse logistics.
- Transportation involves managing vehicles, determining the best routes, vehicle maintenance, and load management.
- Logistics Involves multiple components, such as supply chain management, demand forecasting, inventory handling, and customer service.
- Transportation costs center on fuel, vehicle maintenance, labor, and route optimization.
- Logistics requires investment across multiple areas like storage, inventory, and distribution. Costs can vary depending on the complexity of supply chain demands.
List Of Transportation Services
Transportation services make it possible to move goods from one place to another and deliver customer orders efficiently. There are various types of transportation services, which are discussed below.
1. Freight And Cargo Transportation
Freight and cargo transportation is utilized to move goods and products over long distances by choosing any mode of transport, such as air, rail, or road. It enables a business to distribute its products almost everywhere in the World.
2. Express And Courier Services
Express and courier services are utilized for fast delivery of packages and goods. These services deliver items either on the same or the next day.
Businesses using these services can improve customer satisfaction by delivering products on time.
3. Door To Door Delivery
Door-to-door delivery is one of the most convenient ways of transporting goods. Here, the sender must first place an order with the delivery service. The sender must fill in all the details like address, package weight and dimensions, address, and more. The delivery service will coordinate with the sender and fix a convenient time for picking up the item. The item is picked up by the delivery service and is delivered to the recipient’s door.
Certain challenges in this type of transportation service, such as bad weather conditions or heavy traffic, can cause delays in delivering goods. Sometimes, locating the address can be difficult, particularly in densely populated areas.
4. Fleet Management And Leasing
Fleet management involves overseeing business vehicles to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The business utilizes GPS technology to track its vehicle’s location and routes. Companies even track vehicle maintenance and monitor fuel consumption.
It helps businesses to reduce operational costs. Sometimes, the Company leases vehicles instead of owning them for a specified period. The business makes a lease agreement, which includes the lease duration and number of cars.
Leasing vehicles has various benefits, and a small-scale business can invest little in purchasing vehicles for goods transportation. Most leasing options include maintenance services, reducing the burden of the business’s fleet management responsibilities.
5. Cold Chain Logistics
Cold chain logistics involves transporting temperature-sensitive goods like pharmaceuticals and chemicals from one location to another. It will help maintain the product’s quality and ensure a specific temperature during transportation. Advanced tracking systems are used to ensure that the product’s temperature conditions are maintained. The logistics process involves refrigerated trucks to protect the products.
6. Intermodal Transportation
Intermodal transportation involves combining multiple modes of transportation to transport goods and products. These transport modes include rail, road, ship, or air. By utilizing intermodal transit, a business can reduce shipping costs.
Using only trucks to transport goods can cause environmental pollution. When a business utilizes rail or sea transport, including trucks, it reduces its carbon footprint.
7. Consulting And Custom Solutions
It involves specialized advisory services to optimize logistics operations.
A consulting service will analyze a company’s logistics and warehouse operations and then identify areas for improvement. The consulting team may recommend using advanced technologies like transport management systems (TMS), data analytics tools, and more to increase efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.
List Of Logistics Services
1. Warehousing And Storage
Warehousing involves storing goods before they are delivered to the retailer or customer. Efficient warehousing ensures that all the products are handled properly and available for order fulfillment. There can be various types of warehouses: modern warehouses, private warehouses, consolidation warehouses, or ambient warehouses.
2. Inventory Management
Inventory management involves controlling stock levels to ensure the right amount of goods is available at the right time. Efficient inventory management avoids overstocking and understocking issues. Overstocking can increase warehousing storage costs, while understocking can decrease customer satisfaction. Logistics companies do demand analysis to manage stock challenges more efficiently.
3. Picking And Packing
Picking and packing are two critical warehouse operations. When a customer places an order, the warehouse staff picks the correct product from its designated location and carefully packages it. Then, they hand it over to the shipping company in India to ensure it reaches the right place on time. Warehousing companies also provide custom packing solutions for better branding.
4. Order Management
Order management is the process of taking care of customer orders from start to end.
The process includes:
- Receiving the order.
- Checking whether the product is available or not.
- Pick and Prepare the product.
- Proper Packing and labeling.
- Shipping orders to the customer.
Efficient order management service ensures that the right product reaches the right customer on time and in good condition. The order management process helps keep customers happy and the business organized.
5. Last Mile Delivery
Last-mile delivery is the final step of the ecommerce fulfillment process. It involves goods transportation from the distribution center to the customer’s doorstep. Last mile delivery service is also one of the most challenging parts of the supply chain. It requires planning good routes, dealing with traffic, and managing costs, especially if deliveries are spread out or in hard-to-reach areas.
In Last-mile delivery, the delivery company picks up the order from the warehouse and fulfillment center and delivers the product to the customer. This step is crucial because it directly impacts the customer’s experience—fast and reliable last mile delivery means customers get their orders quickly and on time.
Importance Of Logistics And Transportation
- Effective logistics and transportation ensure that the products reach the customer’s doorstep on time and in good condition, which helps to increase customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers can increase brand awareness by repeat purchases, positive feedback, or recommending a business’s products.
- Ecommerce logistics companies can reduce costs through efficient transport and logistics management. Proper route planning can reduce fuel costs, and proper inventory management can lessen a company’s storage costs.
- Logistics plays a vital role in inventory management. It ensures the right amount of products are available at the right time to meet the customer’s demands. Transportation supports inventory management by delivering products to the warehouses at the correct time to replenish the finished stock items.
- Adequate transportation and logistics management can help businesses expand globally or reach various locations.
- Choosing the best and most efficient transportation route and utilizing electric vehicles for transporting goods can reduce environmental carbon emissions.
How To Choose The Best Transport And Logistics In India?
1. Identify Your Requirements
Identify the logistics services that you will require, such as warehousing and transportation. Consider the volume of the goods you will be moving to the warehouses and how often you will require transportation to move goods. Most companies charge businesses pay-per-use basses. So, identifying the requirements is the most important thing when you are looking for transport and logistics services.
2. Check the Reputation Of The Company
You must check the Company’s track record, experience, reviews, and references. There are many platforms and websites where you can find out the company’s reviews. Businesses can also check the company’s current client list on their websites.
3. Evaluate About Its Coverage
You need to ensure that the transport and logistics Company has a strong logistics network, particularly in the regions where you want to spread your business.
4. Consider Advance Technology
Choose the Company that has adopted the latest Technology, such as warehouse management systems, real-time tracking, and transport management systems.
5. Value Added Services
Look for a transport and logistics company that provides value-added services like reverse logistics, kitting, and packaging.
6. Sustainability Practices
Look for the Company that provides sustainability practices like fuel-efficient vehicles and eco-friendly packaging to reduce carbon emissions.
Conclusion
Transportation and logistics are two important terms that are often used in the world of supply chain management. The process of organization and smooth movement of products from the point of origin to the point of consumption is called transportation. Logistics involves more things rather than the physical distribution of goods and products. Businesses can save money and time by choosing good logistics and transportation services in India. So consider the above-discussed pointers that help you find the best company.
AAJ Supply Chain Management
