It looks like it will be several more weeks before this season of hurricanes will allow sea freight shipping companies to get back to business as usual. As weather reports week after week continue to light up our television and computer screens with giant swirls of red, orange, and yellow, it should come as no surprise that many industries are being impacted. Obviously, sea freight shipping companies have to be on constant guard for know weather events that can put their crew and their cargo at risk.
From door to door movers to large sea freight shipping companies, many consumers rely on the logistics that are required in getting goods from one place in the world to the front door step of someone’s house. Although most of us only think about the door to door service that brings are ordered items to our home, many of the items that we purchase actually start their journey on the other side of the world. That television remote that you have in your hand and that computer that you have in your lap, for instance, likely were made in part or in whole in another country. The fact that week after week the world is experiencing record breaking weather events is just one indication of how dependent we are on the goods that need to travel the open seas to reach their destination. On land, the flood waters also limit the access of goods.
As the nation continues to return to a sense of normalcy, consumers are again reminded about how dependent we are on the delivery process of the products that we use. Consider some of these statistics about the logistics industry and the many shipping and delivery methods that are used to get consumers the items that they want in an efficient manner:
- By reducing the need for connection time, point-to-point transportation also reduces the instance of damage goods.
- The global aviation industry transported an estimated $6.4 trillion worth of cargo in the year 2012.
- 30% of the total worldwide shipment value is represented by the air cargo industry.
- The air cargo industry is expected to generate an estimated $75.4 billion in revenue by the end of the year 2013, according to IBIS World research.
- In some cases, 2-day or overnight delivery can be as much as 50% more than the usual delivery fee.
- 60% of global air-freight shipments in 2012 were handled by cargo only aircraft, according to the plane maker Boeing.
From purchasing agent duties to door to door delivery methods to the efficiencies of the air cargo industry, consumers rely on an entire industry to get the items that we use on a day to day basis.
