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Haulage Transport :Moving goods by road

Aimed at importers and exporters, this guide outlines the different kinds of road vehicles used for transporting goods. It highlights the key documents you need to be familiar with and provides an overview of insurance and licensing requirements.

Find out more about moving your goods in our sections on preparing goods for transport and transporting your goods.

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The different road haulage vehicles

In the UK, with some exceptions, the maximum vehicle weight is 44 tonnes gross (truck, fuel and load) and has up to six sets of axles. Most foreign vehicles coming to the UK have two axles on the tractor and three on the trailer, which limits them to a weight of 40 tonnes both here and in their home state. The maximum individual truck length is 12 metres, articulated truck and trailer length is 16.5 metres and road trains are allowed up to 18.75 metres. The maximum width for all is 2.55 metres.

The main vehicles used to transport goods by road are Articulated Lorries (Artics). These consist of a prime mover with no significant load-carrying area, but with a turn-table device which can be linked to a trailer. With or without a trailer, the Gross Combination Mass – the combined prime mover and trailer – must exceed 3.5 tonnes. Artics have different types of trailers, including:

•    Flatbed trailer – used for almost any kind of cargo, but goods need to be protected from the elements and theft.

•    Tilt trailer – like a flatbed trailer, but with a removable PVC canopy.

•    Curtain-sider – the mainstay of road haulage, this has a rigid roof and rear doors. The sides are PVC curtains that can be drawn back for easy loading.

•    Box trailer – an entirely rigid unit, with loading through back doors. A secure option for valuable goods.

•    Road train – a rigid vehicle at the front, which pulls a trailer behind it.

•    Swap-body system – built to accommodate standard cargo containers. Allows containers to be swiftly transferred during intermodal transport.

•    Low-loaders – often used for transporting heavy machinery and other outsize goods. Set low to the ground for easy loading.

Vans are frequently used to transport smaller cargoes shorter distances.

While goods are being transported, drivers are responsible for the security of goods and compliance with weight and similar restrictions. Traders are responsible for providing adequate dunnage (protective wrapping) to protect and stabilise the goods and for any damage caused to the vehicle while being loaded if they are the party actually loading the vehicle.

The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) Programme will oblige fuel suppliers to make sure that a certain percentage of their sales is made up of biofuels. Read about RTFO on the Department for Transport (DfT) website – Opens in a new window.

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The CMR note: the key road transport document

This page explains how the standard contract of carriage for goods being transported internationally by road – the CMR note – works, and how to fulfil your responsibilities in completing it.

What the CMR note is

The CMR note is a consignment note that confirms that the carrier (ie the road haulage company) has received the goods and that a contract of carriage exists between the trader and the carrier. Unlike a bill of lading, a CMR is not a document of title nor a declaration, although some states regard it as such. It does not necessarily give its holder and/or the carrier rights of ownership or possession of the goods.

How to complete the CMR note

You can fill in the CMR yourself, or you can have a freight forwarder or the carrier do it for you. However, you remain responsible for the accuracy of its contents.

A range of information needs to be covered in the CMR note, including:

•    The date and place at which the CMR note has been completed.

•    The name and address of sender, carrier and consignee (the person to whom the goods are going).

•    A description of the goods and their method of packing. The description should be acceptable to the consignor and consignee. For security reasons, you do not always want the carrier to be able to identify valuable goods.

•    The weight of the goods.

•    Any charges related to the goods, such as customs duties or carriage charges.

•    Instructions for customs and any other formalities.

This list is not comprehensive. For full details you can download a copy of the CMR Convention from the UNECE website (PDF) – Opens in a new window.

Generally there will be three copies of a CMR note. One will be kept by the trader and another by the carrier, while the third will travel with the goods all the way to their final destination.

While the carrier is liable for any loss, damage or delay to a consignment until it is delivered, the trader is responsible for any loss or damage the carrier suffers resulting from incorrect details having been provided in the CMR note.

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Other documentation issues for transport by road

If you transport goods by road, you need to be aware of the CMR note, the Forwarders’ Certificate of Receipt, the TIR system and forthcoming legislation changes.

CMR note

This is the main document you’ll need to deal with when transporting by road – see the page in this guide on the CMR note: the key road transport document.

Forwarders’ certificate of receipt (FCR)

Increasingly, international trade journeys are intermodal, with freight forwarders playing a crucial coordinating role. Much road freight is organised in this way.

‘Forwarders’ documents’ have been designed for these kinds of transactions. The FCR provides proof that a forwarder has accepted your goods with irrevocable instructions to deliver them to the consignee indicated on the FCR.

Using an FCR can speed up payment. For example, if you’re selling overseas and your contract with the buyer states that the goods are collected from the factory and the buyer is responsible for arranging the freight, an FCR can be issued when your buyer’s forwarder collects goods.

You can then present the FCR for payment, rather than having to wait until a non-negotiable or negotiable transport document (the proof of the goods having been loaded onto the transport conveyance for the main international carriage, if any) is issued, which may be some time later.

While an FCR is non-negotiable, another similar document, the Forwarders’ Certificate of Transport, is negotiable. This means that the forwarder accepts responsibility to deliver to a destination you specify – not to an unchangeable destination as with the FCR.

The TIR system

This allows vehicles to cross numerous borders without repeated customs checks. Goods are checked and sealed at the outset, and the vehicle is then waved through by customs authorities until it reaches its final destination. Traders must set up a security bond with the Road Haulage Association or the Freight Transport Association. The system is currently being revised to include a new requirement for a safety and security/transit declaration along with revised procedures for handling transit enquiries.

All traders moving goods across the EU under TIR are now required to submit an electronic customs declaration using the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS). Find guidance on using TIR and NCTS on the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website – Opens in a new window.

TIR doesn’t apply to journeys within the European Union (EU) because there are no customs checks for EU-only journeys.

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Transporting dangerous goods by road

This page explains the procedures you must comply with for carrying dangerous goods by road.

You may see two different terms used to refer to these rules – ADR and the Carriage Regulations – but both refer to the same provisions. ADR is a Europe-wide code on dangerous goods, while the Carriage Regulations translate that code into UK legislation. The Carriage Regulations also apply to the transport of goods by rail – see our guide on moving goods by rail.

The regulations apply to carriers and traders. Traders are often asked to produce the dangerous goods declaration and supporting documents (such as vehicle documentation, safety and accident reporting) and to ensure the goods are suitably packaged and labelled. Traders must also comply with two key sets of duties – classification and packaging.

Classification

Any dangerous goods you’re transporting must be marked with their name, description and United Nations (UN) number.

UN classification groups for dangerous goods

UN Class     Dangerous Goods       Classification

1    Explosives    Explosive

2    Gases    

Flammable gas

Non-flammable, non-toxic gas

Toxic gas

3    Flammable liquid    Flammable liquid

4    Flammable solids    

Flammable solid

Spontaneously combustible substance

Substance which emits flammable gas in contact with water

5    Oxidising substances    

Oxidising substance

Organic peroxide

6    Toxic substances    

Toxic substance

Infectious substance

7    Radioactive material    Radioactive material

8    Corrosive substances    Corrosive substance

9    Miscellaneous dangerous goods    Miscellaneous dangerous goods

Certain goods are prohibited from transport by road, eg, UN Class 3 goods likely to produce peroxides.

Packaging

You must ensure that a qualified Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser has checked that your goods are handled and packaged correctly. Drivers of dangerous loads will need to hold an ADR training certificate, unless they are transporting small loads.

The goods must be well packed to withstand the disruption and movement you’d expect during transit. You must also check that your export packaging is clearly marked with the UN classification number from the table above and with the safety labels appropriate to that class of goods. You’re responsible for checking that your carrier’s vehicles clearly show they’ll be carrying dangerous goods.

A shipper is legally obliged to make a declaration of the danger or hazard of the goods being transported. For the movement of dangerous goods by sea, inland waterways, road and rail, the shipper can fulfil this requirement by completing a SITPRO Dangerous Goods Note (DGN); for air, the correct documentation is the International Air Transport Association Shipper’s Declaration of Dangerous Goods. However, the shipper can design, prepare and present a bespoke or ‘in-house’ document for the surface modes (roads or rail) provided it contains the mandatory information. Some chemical and automotive companies have done this to accommodate specific business processes, such as the need for landscape (instead of a portrait) documentation.

Security

Security regulations require any business involved in the transport of dangerous goods to:

•    only offer the goods to appropriate carriers

•    make sites that temporarily store dangerous goods secure

•    have a security awareness training programme in place

•    have a security plan in place, if involved with high-consequence dangerous goods

Read guidance for businesses on transport security for dangerous goods on the Department for Transport (DfT) website – Opens in a new window.

From 2010, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals will be introduced. It aims to protect workers, consumers and the environment by labelling chemicals in a way that explains their possible hazardous effects. It will harmonise the codes and regulations relating to the transport of dangerous goods and means businesses must classify, label and package their substances and mixtures appropriately before placing them on the market. The deadline for substance reclassification is currently 1 December 2010 and, for mixtures, 1 June 2015.

For more information on the SITPRO DGN, see our guide on moving dangerous goods.

You also have to send a DGN with your consignment. View a guide to completing a DGN from the SITPRO website – Opens in a new window.

New transit/transhipment legislation in force from 6 April 2009 may affect your goods. The new rules allow controlled goods to pass through the UK without needing a specific UK licence, but also enable customs authorities to intervene or stop a shipment if they are concerned. Download guidance about the Export Control Act 2008 from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills website (PDF, 115K) – Opens in a new window.

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Insurance for international road transport

As with any commercial transactions, there are risks associated with trading internationally. This page explains the likely risks you may encounter and the factors to consider.

For insurance cover to be valid, you have to be able to show that you have an ‘insurable interest’ in the insured goods. This means showing that the goods are yours and that you bear the risks associated with them.

Risks

The three main risks that arise in international trade are:

•    loss

•    damage

•    delay (including detention at customs)

Factors

How risks are shared between buyers and sellers is a contractual matter. The point at which the insurable interest passes from supplier to buyer is determined by the sale of contract used. You should be aware that Incoterms – a standardised set of trading terms – do not cover insurance unless the terms agreed are either CIF (costs, insurance and freight) or CIP (carriage and insurance paid to). For more information, see our guide to International commercial contracts – Incoterms.

Under a CMR contract the carrier bears some limited liability (although this is determined on a case-by-case basis and sometimes the liability can be total), so traders should arrange the appropriate insurance cover. For more information, download a copy of the CMR Convention from the UNECE website (PDF, 59K) – Opens in a new window.

Traders often tend to under-insure themselves, so it’s recommended that you add 10 per cent to the amount of cover you think you need. You can also arrange cover for contingencies, such as the buyer refusing to accept your goods when they arrive.

For more information about arranging insurance for your international trade, see our guide on transport insurance.

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Licences for international road transport

Unless you are using your own vehicles, you don’t need to apply for any licences to transport your goods by road. However, you should make sure that anyone transporting goods for you is properly licensed.

Anyone operating a goods vehicle must have an operator’s licence – sometimes referred to as an ‘O Licence’. These are required for any vehicle with a gross plated weight of more than 3.5 tonnes. Drivers who transport dangerous goods need to hold an ADR training certificate, unless they are transporting small loads.

Three kinds of operator’s licence are available, and you should make sure that hauliers you use have the appropriate licence for your needs. The three categories are:

•    restricted – the licence holder can carry their own goods within the UK

•    standard national – the holder can carry both their own goods and goods for others within the UK

•    standard international – the holder can carry their own goods and goods for others both in the UK and on international journeys

For international trade, you need to ensure that your operator has a standard international licence.

See our section on driving licences for lorries and vans.

Bear in mind that there’s a wide range of other regulations and requirements that road hauliers must comply with. These include rules on the numbers of hours that drivers are permitted to work. All goods vehicles must be fitted with a tachograph to monitor drivers’ working hours.

See our sections on drivers’ hours rules and using tachographs. Haulage Transport Haulage

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SME sports goods manufacturing units in Jalandhar are witnessing brisk business over the last few months thanks to the mania associated with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup.

Spurt in demand ahead of the FIFA World Cup has prompted small-scale sports and football equipment manufacturers to increase their supplies in order to meet the burgeoning demand.

“With FIFA World Cup round the corner, we are witnessing a steep increase in demand for football and soccer goods, which in turn, is helping the Jalandhar football equipment industry to witness rise in its sales and margins,” said R Kumar, proprietor of Union Sports International, a small-sized manufacturer of sports ball in Jalandhar.

Given the market requirements, SME sports equipment manufacturers are also undertaking training programmes to manufacture machine-stitched football, thereby shifting their focus from the hand-stitched ones. Promotional campaigns undertaken by retail houses are also helping to perk-up sale of soccer goods.

“Order inflow for machine-stitched football is much higher than hand-stitched football both in domestic and international markets. This has prompted us to undertake training and improve our quality and productivity,” said a key spokesperson of JJ Export House, a sports goods manufacturer in Jalandhar.

Demand for Jalandhar-made sports goods has gone up significantly over the last few months and is likely to increase further, with the peak business period beginning from March and likely to continue till May-end this year for global market, while it will last up to September in India.

For more detail on Sports Manufacturers log on to http://www.bizxchange.in/

Tourists

The origin of the word “tourist” date back to 1292 AD. It has come from the word ‘tour’. A number of experts have defined the term:

“Tourists are the voluntary temporary travelers, traveling in the expectations of pleasure from the novelty and change experienced on a relatively and non-current round-trip”.

“Tourist is a person who makes a journey for the sake of curiosity for the fun of traveling”.

Tourists are:

-Persons traveling for pleasure, health and domestic reason.

-Persons arriving in the sea of sea cruise.

-Persons traveling for convention.

Tourism – the first commercial venture.

A religious Englishman called Thomas Cook in 1841 arranged, for a fee, a one –day rail excursion from Leicester to Loughborough for 540 members of a temperance league. Thus the first bona fide travel agent was Thomas Cook.

While Cook himself did not make a profit on this first venture, he was a man of vision and was convinced that there was a need for a skilled “travel arranger”. So by 1845 he had become the first full-time travel agent, operating train excursions from Leicester. The next year he chartered a train and steamer for an excursion to Scotland for 330 people. In 1851 Cook arranged ocean steamship travel and accommodations for more than 1,50,000 visitors to the World Exposition in London and in 1856 he operated the first escorted “grand tour” of Europe. Tours to Europe and Middle East were also conducted and, in 1872, the first around the world tour was conducted.

Tourism as a Service Industry

Tourism as a service industry comprises of several allied activities which together produce the tourism product. Involved in the tourism product are three major sub-industries. They are: -

1. Tour operators and travel agents.

2. Accommodation sector (hoteling and catering) and

3. Passenger accommodation.

According to international estimates, a tourist spends 35% of his total expenditure on transportation, about 40% on lodging and food and the balance 25% on entertainment, shopping and incidentals.

The product in this case is not confirmed to travel and accommodation but includes a large array of auxiliary services ranging from insurance and entertainment and shopping, demand generation, in addition to the consumer motivation, is also heavily dependent upon powerful persuasive communication both at the macro (country) level and the micro (enterprise) level. The participants in the process of this service business can be illustrated by the figure below.

Some of the pointers to nature of tourism as a Service Industry

1. Tourism accounts for nearly 6% of world trade.

2. Bulk of tourism business is located in Europe and North America., with 1/8 of the market being shared between the other regions.

3. The highest growth rate in tourism in recent years has been in the third world.

4. Tourism, like most pure services, because of the character of inseparability, exemplifies a product, which cannot be sampled before purchase; the prospective consumers have to travel to a foreign destination in order to consume the product.

5. The major players in the tourism market include a number of intermediary companies. Some of them transnational in character, some of them exhibit

vertical integration, both backward and forward, acquiring interests in all major sectors of this service industry.

The Tourism Product- Factors Governing Demand.

Because of the unique nature of the nature of tourism product- it being an amalgam of the characteristics of a destination and the infrastructural as well as managerial efforts of the promoter, the determinants of tourists demand emanate from both individual tourist motivations and the economic, social, technological factors. Some of these are:

• Income Levels

In the last 30 years, disposable incomes around the world have shown upward trends, thus allowing more money for activities like leisure travel. Smaller families have meant higher allocations per person in the family. More and more women are entering the workforce and in real terms the cost of travel has fallen. The dramatic rise of tourism in the last 50 years can be attributed in a large measure to the combined effect of more leisure time and rise in both real and disposable incomes.

• More Leisure time:

Increasing unionization of labour right from 1930 onwards has reduced the number of working hours per week. Changing managerial orientations towards human resources have increased the levels of pay and paid vacation time in most developed countries. Now people have longer periods of leisure, which could be allocated to travel.

• Mobility

Better transportation and communication services have made the world a smaller place, and have brought both exposure and awareness of distant lands to larger sections of potential tourists across the world. Faster modes of transport have cut down on travel time, making it easier for people to economically plan and execute trips abroad.

• Growth in Government Security Programmes and Employment Benefits:

The growth in government security programmes and well entrenched policies of employee benefits mean that quite a large number of families may have long term financial security and may be more willing to spend money for vacations.

Tourist Classification:-

Tourists can be classified into the following seven demand categories:-

1. Explorer: – Very limited in number, these tourists are looking for discovery and involvement with local people.

2. Elite: – People who favour special, individually trips to exotic places.

3. Offbeat: – These are filled with a desire to get away from the usual humdrum life.

4. Unusual: – Visitors who are looking forward to trips with peculiar objectives such as physical danger or isolation.

5. Incipient mass: – A steady flow, traveling alone or in small-organized groups using some shared services.

6. Mass: – The general packaged tour market, leading to tourist enclaves abroad.

7. Charter: – Mass travel to relaxation destinations, which incorporate as many as standardized, developed world facilities as possible.

The Travel Decision:-

The average tourist is faced with considerable uncertainty regarding the decision and may have only scanty ideas about distant destinations. His evaluation of alternatives is also limited to the extent of this awareness about possible destinations. The stages of travel decision can be described as: -

1. Travel Desire:-

The first step where the need to travel is felt and the pros and cons are thought about.

2. Information Collection and Evaluation:-

This stage involves the process of finding out the trip from travel agents, books and acquaintances .information so collected is evaluated against criteria of cost and time constraints, alternative possibilities, relative attractiveness of destinations, perceived ‘safety’ o the alternative destinations etc.

3. Travel Decision:-

This is the decision phase involving selection of destination, travel, mode of accommodation and activities to be undertaken.

4. Travel Preparation and Experience:-

This involves tickets, bookings, travel, money and documents arrangement, clothing and undertaking of the travel.

5. Travel Satisfaction Evaluation:-

The whole tourism expenditure is constantly evaluated before, during and after the experience is used to influence future decisions.

The marketing concept for the travel and tourism industry is profit driven and customer centric (unlike sales which are volume driven and target centric).

Service Marketing Triangle

Service marketing is unique in many ways in the travel and tourism industry. There are 3 players in the transaction process:-

- Company: A travel and tourism company listens to the customers and evolves/develops the travel/tour package and it communicates the attractiveness and the utility of that very tour package directly to the customers. Here it (the company) performs external marketing. The company makes promises to the customers.

- Providers: They are a travel company’s internal customers constituting employees and agents. The company does internal marketing with the providers educating and motivating them about the idea of the particular tour package which they can offer to their customers. This is done to enable the providers to effectively carry out the service transaction process. The providers make provisions for office space, accessibility and connectivity. The company enables promises to be kept by this infrastructural association.

- Customers (Travelers): The customers are the reasons that the travel company exists and for whom the company has designed the traveling and touring package as well as set up the infrastructural facilities and spent money on employee development programmes. Here the providers are the only ones who interact with the customers, like the travel agents interact with the customers and not the company. The agents perform interactive marketing which is on-time, all-time, every-time. This is the most crucial aspect of service marketing in the travel and tourism sector. Those agents have the responsibility of ‘keeping promises’ made and enabled by the company. The providers (agents) are responsible for the perceived quality level of the service transaction. This underlines the uniqueness of service marketing.

Tourism Products:

1. Accommodation

• Hotels

• Motels

• Boatels

• Flotels

2. Destination

• Natural Scenes

• Historic Excellence

• Artificial Beauties

• Social Cultural Excellence

3. Transportation

• Infrastructural

i. Airways

ii. Railways

iii. Roadways

iv. Waterways

• Local

i. Local transport

4. Tour operators

• Travel companies

• Travel agents

• Guides

5. Shopping

• Handicrafts

• Handloom

• Books

Marketing mix for tourism product:

The designing of the marketing mix variables in case of tourism is significant as it helps the marketer in conceiving the right ideas, particularly to raise the acceptability of the tourist product by stimulating and penetrating the demand. Framing of a proper marketing mix is significant because it helps the tourist organization in accomplishing the objective and projecting a fair image.

Product Mix:

Tourism is a composite product with components like attraction facilities and transportation. Attraction deserves an intensive care. It includes natural site, places of historic interest, events and cultural attraction.

The facilities compliment attraction. The facilities include accommodation, food, transportation and recreational facilities. The transportation component includes the vehicles and infrastructure. Innovation in the tourism product helps raising the sensitivity. The users of the service are looking forward to better and improved product.

The provider of the tourist is a travel agent or the package tour. A well conceived and designed package tour, covering a wide range of tourist attraction at an economic price, helps in attracting the potential tourist.

The travel agent performs numerous activities such as hotel arrangement and accommodation, site seeing arrangement, domestic transport arrangement, air travel arrangement etc.

In a true sense the tour agents and the travel agents are the vehicles who can give a fillip to the tourism industry, provided they are well trained.

Pricing:

Pricing of the tourist product is complex. Geographical location of the destination, seasonality and varying demand affects the pricing decision.

In India the pricing strategies become important for promoting or contracting the tourism industry, since more than 40% of the total population are below the poverty line. In order to develop the tourism industry more and more potential users are to be transformed into actual users.

When a tourist proposes to visit a particular place, the total cost of his traveling also include the expenses incurred on transportation, accommodation and communication.

Liberal pricing strategy is found to be a productive pricing decision, particularly in case of tourism industry. The pricing strategy which includes low income group people, student and retired persons can be more effective. This is possible if the government concessional and subsidized infrastructural facilities to the potential tourist below the average income.

The different pricing methods generally used are cost based pricing, demand based pricing and competition based pricing.

Promotions:

The promotion mix includes advertising, publicity, sales support and public relations.

The purpose of promotion is to make available the information to the user. Advertising the sales promotion can be effective when supplemented by publicity and personal selling.

Radio, TV, newspapers, cinema and printings are some of the important vehicles for traveling of messages. Effective slogans raises the effectiveness of advertisement.

Another important component of the promotion mix is public relation. It helps in projecting the image of an organization. Public relation and publicity include regular articles and photographs of tour attraction, use of TV and travel journalists to promote editorial comment.

Public relation officer plays an important role. He should be efficient, active, impressive, intelligent and well-behaved.

Good image projection can be made if the PRO manages the affair like a professional. It is said that word of mouth is the best form of publicity. The word of mouth promotion is an important tool in tourism marketing.

Place:

The tourist centers should be located at suitable points if the tourists spots are natural there is no question of selection. In a vast country like India with a divergent socioeconomic and cultural patterns, the promotion of domestic tourism encourages unity in diversity.

Infrastructural facilities, transport and communication are important for development of tourist centres. The site selected should have natural surroundings, increased accessibility and improved amenities. At the same time it is also important that the ecological balance is not disturbed. Since growing ecological imbalances leads to pollution, some important steps like promoting afforestation, promotion and beautification may be undertaken in countering the side effects of atmospheric pollution and maintaining ecological balance.