Untitled - Ministerstwo Rozwoju Regionalnego

Still, from a technological viewpoint, transport is a manufacturing activity,
a physical operation involving heavy production means: manpower, fixed public
capital (infrastructure) and private capital (rolling stock, warehouses, handling
facilities, etc.), energy. Transport is a process, not a product.
The production of transport can take place according to two basic schemes:
in-house, when a “shipper” (i.e. a firm the activity of which requires transport to
be operated) carries out transport with its own means (this is called “own account”
transport); or out-sourced, when the shipper asks an outside specialized
company (a “carrier”) to provide it with the necessary transport operation (this
is called “third account” transport). In the later case, transport is considered as
a service. The industry of transport and the market of transport therefore cover
only a part of total transport operation, the one that has been outsourced by
shippers according to their arbitrage in matter of “make or buy” (see Fig. 47).
Concerning a process and not a product, transport production and transport
consumption are fused into a single process, they take place at the same place
and at the same time (whereas the production and consumption of a product is
usually split into two separate events). This characteristic has obviously important
consequences on the organization of transport. Considering its market, the
fit of supply and demand is particularly difficult and imperfect, since it should
be achieved exactly at any moment and in any place. In fact, market is chronically
in an imbalance position and to a certain extent over-capacity is necessary,
so as not to face the opposite, but much more problematic situation, i.e. shortage
and bottle-necks. To make demand and supply match as little badly as possible,
258
Own account
CONSUMPTION
PRODUCTION
Fig. 47. Transport activity, inside and outside market
Source: own study.
shippers (demand)
transport market
transport money
carriers (supply)
Third account
Cargo
Vehicle