Unit 11

TRansportation and shipping

The main methods of transporting goods are road, rail, air and sea. Transporting goods by sea is called shipping.

A Bill of Lading (b/l or blading) is a receipt given by the shipping company. The main document used by air transport is the Air Waybill (AWB). Unlike the bill of lading, the Air Waybill is only a receipt and cannot be transferred to another person.

Consignment notes are used in road and rail transportation, and like the AWB they are not documents of title so ownership of the document does not mean ownership of the goods. They are not negotiable, i.e. they cannot be bought, sold, transferred by the consignor (the exporter), or the consignee (the importer).

There are a variety of vessels available for exporters to use when shipping goods:

• Passenger liners

• Passenger cargo vessels

• Tramps

• Tankers

• Container vessels

• Roll-on roll-off ferries

• Barges (lighters)

Before the name of the ship, which is usually underlined in correspondence, the letters SS stand for Steam Ship and show it is a British Merchant Vessel. MV, Motor Vessel or Merchant Vessel, and MS, Motor Ship are also used.

The main documents (besides bill of lading) used in shipping are:

• Freight account

• Dock receipt (wharfinger’s receipt)

• Shipped bill of lading

Good packaging is essential because it ensures that goods arrive at their destination in good condition. Therefore, the choice of packaging must suit the product, the means of carriage, handling facilities and any changes in climate during transport. In some countries, import duties are assessed according to the gross weight of shipments, which includes packaging. Therefore, the heavier the packaging the higher the duties will be. Goods packed separately, not in containers, are called conventional cargo.

PRACTICE.

a. Label the pictures.

b. Match the consignments to the type of packaging.

drum sack refrigerated container crate barrel

grain diesel engines wine beef sulphuric acid

c. Match these expressions to their symbols.

use no hooks keep dry

radiation dangerous chemicals

this way up fragile

d. Fill in this puzzle. All the words are from this Unit. Use the clues to help you

.

Clues

1 and 2 Two words meaning cost

3 The place the goods leave from is the place of……..

4 The place the goods are going to is the ……..

5 A large box is also called a ……….

6 To put goods into boxes ready for traveling is to ……. them

7 The …….(size) of the consignment was 220 cu m

8 The ………of each case were 10m x 2m x 1.1m

9 and 10 Goods packed separately, not in containers, are called …….

10 Goods traveling from one place to another are called a …….

11 This word has two meanings (a) goods traveling from one place to another ;(b) the cost of transporting goods from one place to another

12 How heavy something is

13 A large box of a standard size for transporting goods is called a ……

14 This word means usual, regular, always the same

Hidden word: Moving from one place to another

				1	R
			2	C
			3	D
	4	D
				5	C
						6	P
					7	V
	8	M
9	C
					10	C
11	F
				12	W
					13	C
			14	S
							
Hidden word