General Transportation & Shipping

Transportation and shipping refer to industry activity encompassing the moving of goods, people, and materials between points of production, distribution and consumption or sales. Unsurprisingly, most shipping employs the use of ships – 90% of international trade is moved, at some point, on a merchant ship – though ground transportation via railroad or truck is also often essential. Even when sea or air transportation is employed as the primary way to move cargo, some land transportation is usually necessary to get the goods to their end destination.

Key international players in the shipping industry include China, Greece, and the United States. Companies managing and providing transportation and shipping services are generally grouped within the logistics industry. Supply chains for manufacturing, production, material processing, and consumer market goods are facilitated through transportation and shipping, and efficiently managed and streamlined through the field of logistics.

For consumers and for a large portion of the commercial sector including small businesses, there are simpler ways to ship. These include using shipping carriers like DHL, FedEx, and UPS, which manage commercial fleets of aircraft and trucks.

General transportation and shipping interfaces between numerous boundaries including political or national boundaries (with many country-specific transportation and shipping markets and industries), transportation equipment OEMs and suppliers, nationalized or government-run postal and transportation services, and various supplier and client industries, as well as consumers and independent businesses.