Principles of Marketing

Managing Product Movement

Tutorial Contents
Managing Product Movement Service-Level vs. Cost Trade-Off Ordering and Inventory Management Order Entry, Processing, Forecasting Knowledge, Relationships, Handling Product Storage Types of Warehouses Transportation Features and Modes Modes of Transportation Comparison

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Modes of Transportation Comparison

In the chart below the six main modes of transporting products are compared for each of the key transportation features. Also shown are the estimated percentages of product movement (i.e., freight traffic) that occurs within the United States for the five modes that handle tangible products. These percentages are taken from the 2006 Statistical Abstracts of the United States and reflect estimates as of 2001.

Mode	Product Options	Speed	Accessibility	Cost	Capacity	Intermodal Capability	% of US Product Movement
Truck	Very Broad	Moderate	High	Moderate	Low	Very High	28%
Railroad	Broad	Slow	Moderate	Low	Moderate	Very High	41%
Air	Narrow	Fast	Low	Very High	Very Low	Moderate	<1%
Water	Broad	Very Slow	Moderate	Very Low	Very High	Very High	13%
Pipeline	Very Narrow	Very Slow	Low	Low	Very High	Very Low	17%
Digital	Very Narrow	Very Fast	Very High	Very Low	Moderate	Very Low	?

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