Rail and Road: advantages, disadvantages and development

Khaburina Alena, marketing-1.

Essay#2. Rail and Road: advantages, disadvantages and development.

There are lots of pros and opportunities of rail transport which make this kind of transportation preferable in some cases. Rail transportation is the main competitor of road transport.

Firstly, the great advantage of rail is low costs. Comparing with prices on road transportation we can conclude, that the costs of rail are lower than costs on road (but we should consider the distance, because the rail can be cheaper only if the distance is quite far). In majority of cases the more distance, the lower costs comparing with road transportation we have. Also rail transport doesn’t depend on weather conditions and the seasons. Rail road cover great areas in Russia and Europe.

In comparison with road rail transportation is more safe, firstly, because the risk of accident is lower and the costs on security and escort is also lower. Moreover there exist a big diversity of different wagons which implies that there are also closed wagons and other types of wagons to provide the protection of cargo. In other words the probability of robbery is significantly lower than in case of road transportation.

The producers choose the rail road as transport in situations when they need much more carrying capacity than a truck can provide. Concerning the capacity the water carriage could be the competitor for rail but the first has very little coverage.

The disadvantage of using rail transport can be great time costs. Also the rail transport can’t provide all destinations and it can’t get the cargo to the end-user. In majority of cases companies should also use road to get the cargo. That’s why some companies provide not only rail, but also road services.

There are some difficulties with documents and regulation of rail transportation, because it’s quite complicated system. Also there are lots of stops and loading of goods. These difficulties also exist in road transportation, but in rail industry this problem is more spread.

To sum up the rail transportation is useful considering great distances and big amounts of goods. Because this transport can safe not only the goods but the costs too. But still, only considering big distances. The service level isn’t very good because of limitations of rail road. E.g. the rail transportation firms can’t satisfy some special needs of clients like road transportation companies can. The problem of specialists helping and carrying cargo is also quite significant in both rail and road. But this point depends only on specific company providing such kind of services.

The main competitor of rail is road transport. Road is admitted as the most flexible transport. If the transportation happens within the one city the road is always preferable. In some cases the road can be the only way of carriage. E.g. when providing perishable goods where the time play the key role in transportation.

Road transportation is more flexible and provides more planning opportunities for clients. The companies also can monitor the real location of cargo within the trip.

The level of service is better in comparison with the rail because the road transportation system implies individual approach to the clients. So the customer needs are satisfied better. E.g. the client can plan the ways and choose the certain cars or trucks. And also it’s great advantage that using road clients don’t need to get some other transport. They can get their cargo just where they prefer.

The costs of road transportation are rather low but considering not very long distances. In case of long ways rail is better in terms of cost-saving.

Also modern trucks can transport almost any cargo but still in cases of big cargos the rail is better.

It was already mentioned that the road implies quite big risks of being robbed or getting in the accident. But the modern insurance can somehow decrease these significant risks.