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6 fun facts about distribution and transportation

6 fun facts about distribution and transportation

The world of distribution and transportation is highly professionalized. Crossed by terms such as efficiency and margins of error, it is a propitious field for brainy and rigorous articles. But it seems less inviting to texts about curiosities. However, flashy, shocking, and even funny facts can also help us understand the importance and size of logistics.

Fun facts about distribution and transportation
When trucks ruled the world

People who are not in the world of distribution and transportation may not realize how many trucks they pass on the road. In the US alone there are about 3.5 million trucks. This serves to understand how complex it is to supply an entire country. Millions of shelves full every day of basic necessities or entertainment products.

When was the pallet invented?

As simple and even obvious as a pallet may now be for us, the truth is that our wooden friends have not always been there to make things easier for us in distribution and transport. Until 1920 we had to wait for it to be invented. The two most common models are the European (120x80cm) and the American (120x100cm).

the king of the seas

The largest cargo ships in the world have lengths that are measured in hundreds of meters, reaching 400 meters on the Chinese cargo ship CSCL Globe, built in 2004. Its maximum capacity is 19,100 twenty-foot containers and it needs a staff of 23 people to operate. . To get an idea of how long it is, the Eiffel Tower would fit perfectly lying on it and it would still be 75 meters long.

Distribution and transport in containers

After talking about the largest freighter in the world, it is only fair to talk about the staggering numbers of containers. Currently it is estimated that there are more than twenty million containers in the world. Approximately one fifth of them are being transported at the moment either by sea, by road or by rail.

The raison d’être of logistics operators

The various studies carried out each year on the supply chain show that companies continue to find reasons to outsource their logistics. Although they vary depending on each study, the usual figure is that the figure for savings in transport costs by outsourcing logistics ranges between 10% and 15%.

from past to future

The first methods of transportation were far from what we understand today as logistics. Before the invention of motor vehicles, things were not easy and most of the effort fell on the animals. About 6,000 years ago, in the year 4000 B.C. C., two animals that have accompanied man in his work since then were domesticated for transport: the horse (in Mesopotamia) and the donkey (in Egypt).

But the explosion of motor vehicles has radically changed the landscape. In the year 1900 Americans owned 8,000 cars. 20 years later the figure had reached 8 million. In the year 2000 there were already 220 million cars, more than one for each person over 18 years of age. By the way, the most chosen paint color is white.

These data are not just Trivial answers. They also serve to understand how much distribution and transportation have changed over the centuries, how pervasive it has always been in human life, the levels of complexity it has reached, and the milestones it continues to surpass.

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