TRANSPORT PARTICIPANTS

1) SHIPPER AND CONSIGNEE
 
The shipper and consignee have a common interest in moving goods from origin to destination within a given time at the lowest cost. Services related to transportation include specified pickup and delivery times,predictable transit time, and zero loss and damage as well as accurate and timely exchange of information and invoicing,


2) CARRIER AGENTS

The carrier, a business that performs a transportation service, desires to maximize its revenue for movement while minimizing associated cost. As a service business, carriers want to change their customer to highest rate possible while minimizing the labor, fuel and vehicle cost required to complete the movement. To achieve this objective, the carriers seek to coordinate pickup and delivery times in an effort to group or consolidate many different shippers freight into movement that achieve economy of scale and distance. Brokers and freight forwarders are transport agents that facilitate carrier and customer matching.

3) GOVERNMENT

The government has a vested interest in transportation because of the critical importance of reliable service to economic and social well-being. Government desires a stable and efficient transportation environment requires that carriers provide essential services at reasonable cost. Government traditionally regulated carriers by restricting markets they could service and regulating the prices they could charge. Such control allows government to have a major influence on the economic success of regions, industries or firms.

4) INTERNET

A recent development in the transportation industry is a wide assortment of internet based service. The primary advantage of internet based service is the ability of carriers to share real time information with customers and suppliers. The availibility of real time information is improving shipment visibility to the point where tracing and tracking are no longer a challenge. In addition, the internet can be used to share information concerning on scheduling and capacity planning.

5) PUBLIC

The public is concerned with transportation accessibility, expense and effectiveness as well as environmental and safety standards. The public indirectly creates transportation demand by purchasing goods. While minimizing transportation cost is important to consumer, concerns also involve environmental impact and safety. The cost of environmental impact and safety is ultimately paid by customers.