This article gives a detailed description of the role and duty of transportation in logistics presented on thirteenth December 2000.According to logistic management, logistics can be defined as the process of strategising, controlling and implementing effective flow together with storage of goods, information and services from their original point to that of consumption in order to conform to customers requirements. Any given business enterprise is involved in transportation due to movement of goods from one point to another. Transportation plays a significant role of linking the spatial dimension of business to their respective material sources and market. Spatial dimension refers to the geographical relationship between business firms and their markets, material sources and their competitors. The structure of modern logistics requires efficient and effective motor carrier transporter therefore transportation plays the following roles in logistics.
Transportation creates economic utility. Utility can be attributed to usefulness or satisfaction. Therefore transportation creates place utility because goods present in a place where they are not needed have less or no value. Transportation helps when it come to pricing and market decisions. With the ability to create place and time utility, the availability of transportation has an effect on final decisions made by any firm. It helps in product and market area decisions. This is seen when a firm is making decisions on what product to purchase and the place to find the product. Transportation is also considered when it comes to purchasing, location and pricing decisions in general. Transportation therefore has a big place in any economic system because it enables businesses to acquire goods which are not manufactured at their location at the same time allowing consumers to access goods which are manufacture miles away from their immediate locale.
References
Fair, M. L., and Williams, E.W. (1981). Transportation and logistics (1981 rev.ed.). Plano, Tex.: Business Publications;.
Gerdes, L. I. (2008). Transportation. Detroit: Green haven Press.
