Transport has played, plays, and will continue to play a very significant role in every economy, both national and global. It accompanies every social and economic activity. It constitutes a fundamental condition determining economic development, acting as the “bloodstream” of the national economy. The development of transport brings markets closer together, enables increased production, and provides enterprises with trade exchange with the external environment.
The special role of transport is visible in the operations of food industry enterprises. In this area, the physical provision of transport plays a secondary role. What is important is the timeliness of deliveries, both of raw materials for production and finished products transported to final recipients. Furthermore, transport infrastructure is equally important, especially specialized means of transport. Together with timeliness, they ensure the proper health quality of the transported goods. The requirements regarding food transport and the problems that the food industry must face in this area are the subject of this paper.
The role of road transport in the carriage of food cargo
The basis of every logistics system is the transport system. It is understood as an ordered set of all transport branches operating in a given region. This system conditions all types of movement and, therefore, constitutes a kind of “bloodstream” of the entire logistics system.
The essence of road transport
Transport is an activity aimed at overcoming space using appropriate means of transport infrastructure. In most cases, it is quite complex and usually involves many parties and means of transport that oversee various functions within the transport chain. To make the right decision regarding the choice of an appropriate means of transport, it must be adapted to the characteristics and properties of the good being delivered. First and foremost, factors such as transport time, flexibility, and reliability must be taken into account. From the point of view of the food industry, the most important requirements placed on transport are timeliness and speed of delivery, safety, and a guarantee of frequency and regularity of deliveries (which ensures meeting the established delivery deadline). One of the main branches of transport used for the carriage of food products is road transport. It is used in almost every logistics operation – starting from the smallest delivery vans, ending with the largest trucks with trailers.
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Source: Logistyka Magazine