TTS logistics

The traditional services of transport, transshipment and storage still form the foundation of modern logistics activities. They also offer flexible solutions for the future.

Definition of TTS logistics

The long distance between the sender and recipient

The bananas grow in the Caribbean. The blue jeans are made in Southeast Asia. The modern digital camera is developed in Japan. But the way to the customer is long. Frequently, a product must cover thousands of kilometers in a short amount of time before it can reach a consumer’s hands. To accomplish this task, numerous actors connected in a logistics chain are required to efficiently carry out the core logistics processes of transport, handling and warehousing. Logistics costs make up nearly 50 percent of the price of a banana.

Duties and extent of TTS logistics

115,000 kilometers is the combined length of all containers in the world. 15,000 kilometers is the combined length of all trucks on German roads each day. 1,765,140 kilometers is the combined length of all freeways, and national and regional highways in the European Union. 3,000,000,000,000 kilometers is the combined transport volume of the EU-15 member state countries.
 

The business model of TTS logistics

Transport, transshipping and storage – or TTS – are the core processes of logistics. TTS logistics represents the operational activities involved in transport, transshipment and storage.
TTS providers solve transport problems for their customers by moving goods from Point A to Point B and storing these goods when necessary. To efficiently deliver TTS services, providers frequently use transport-logistical networks in which goods are consolidated, rearranged and separated. The general goal is to cover the physical distances and temporal periods between the location where the goods are produced and the location where they are needed.

Transport

The transport of goods serves to alter the location of an item. In this process, the goods are moved from a source to a destination. The actual usefulness of the transport system is provided only when the good is made available to the destination. The type of transport is closely tied to economic and time factors as well as the form of the good to be transported.



Shipment of goods by means of transport



Transshipping

To provide efficient transport between two separate and sometimes widely distant locations, diverse means of transport are needed - e.g., ships, trucks and trains. The change in means of transport is called transshipping. This switch is frequently linked to various requirements in terms of size, quantity and composition of packages of goods. For this reason, transshipping includes the consolidation, separation and sorting of goods in order to create the most efficient transport possible.

Change of means of transport through transshipping

Storage

With the help of storage, a bridge is created between the receipt and the dispatch of a good. This can be necessary in order to offset supply and demand or to provide protection from dangers. In this manner, differences in the composition structure between receipt and dispatch can be addressed. The usefulness of storage is provided through the availability of the good at another point in time.

Changes in time, amount and type through storage

The market of TTS logistics

According to IATA International Air Transport Association statistics from 2006, 28.8 percent of the air-freight market was dominated by six major providers. A total of 71.2 percent was controlled by small, rather regional providers.