1) Purpose of this report is to help Smith Metals and Jones tools in choosing Method of

Transport. Jones Tools is located in Montreal who produce precision equipment which it sells
to all the aircraft producers in Canada, Mexico and United States. The primary supplier of
these forgings is Smith Metals Canada Limited is located in Vancouver and they are known
for their reputation of very high quality of products and timely delivery. The buyer of castings
at Jones Tools estimates that their next 12-month purchase from Smith Metals will total about
6000, with an average weight of 15 pounds. Delivery requirements call for monthly
shipments of approximately equal amounts. Since customer requirements often arent known
until shortly before these forgings must be put into production, Jones Tools can give Smith
Metals its size requirements only about 6 weeks before the items are needed in the Montreal
Plant. It typically takes Smith Metals about 3 weeks to make their production run and have
the items ready to ship.
2.) I would recommend Truck as a method of Transportation. A Truck can do door to door
delivery of goods. A truck can carry up to 40000lb FTL. As we know our monthly shipment
will be 500 piece which weight 15 pound each which comes to 7500lb a month and we have
3 weeks of time to deliver as we know a LTL will take around 4 days to deliver from
Vancouver to Montreal we have enough time to to make the delivery and it will be the
cheapest and convenient option to make delivery.

Smith Metals Vancouver Warehouse to Jones Tools Montreal by Truck

3.) I choose Truck as Mode of Transport:

Door-to-door movement
Does not depend on schedules
Cheapest
Free Choice of routes.

4.) Other Possible Modes of Transport: -

Air - same day

Rail FCL 4 days, LCL 5 days

Marine (No Specified time)

Air: - Air is considered the fastest way of transport as it can transfer goods same day in most
geographical locations. We dont want to use this method of transportation because we know
the delivery dates 3 weeks prior to delivery.
Disadvantages: Very Costly: - It is the costliest means of transport. The fares of air transport are so high that
it is beyond the reach of the common man.
Small Carrying Capacity:-Its carrying capacity is very small and hence it is not suitable to
carry cheap and bulky goods.
Uncertain and Unreliable: -Air transport is uncertain and unreliable as it is controlled to a
great extent by weather conditions. Unfavorable weather such as fog, snow or heavy rain etc.
may cause cancellation of scheduled flights and suspension of air service.
Rail: - A Rail can pull 200-300 Rail cars to transport goods, a single rail car can carry 60000
lb. but as per our requirement we only have 7500lb per month to transport so we are not
going to waste our time in consolidating. Below are the few disadvantages of Rail transport.
Disadvantages:
i.) The railway requires a large investment of capital. The cost of construction, maintenance
and overhead expenses are very high as compared to other modes of transport. Moreover, the
investments are specific and immobile. In case the traffic is not sufficient, the investments
may mean wastage of huge resources.

ii.) Another disadvantages of railway transport is its inflexibility. Routes and timings cannot
be adjusted to individual requirements.
iii.) Rail transport cannot provide door to door service as it is tied to a particular track.
Intermediate loading or unloading involves greater cost, more wear and tear and wastage of
time. The time cost of terminal operations are a great disadvantage of rail transport.
iv.) Because of huge capital requirements and traffic, railways cannot be operated
economically in rural areas. Thus, large rural areas have no railway even today. This causes
much inconvenience to the people living in rural areas.
Marine: -Sea transportation is used by businesses for the delivery of goods from distant
suppliers. Most sea transportation is conducted in containers which vary in size. Goods can
be grouped into a container (LCL) or fill a container (FCL). We cant relay on Marin
Transport because most of the time locating in transit goods are difficult.
Disadvantages: 1) Longer delivery times.
2) Effected by Bad weather
3) Difficult to monitor exact location of goods in transit
4) Customs and Excise restrictions
5) Could be costly