Transport: modes, costs, contracts and tracking

1Choosing the mode

Each mode has its own profile:

The decision takes account of the cost of delay: an air freight of 40,000 USD that avoids two weeks of stock-out of essential medicines may be justified; the same freight for office supplies never is. Multimodal transport (sea then road, or air then helicopter) is the norm in crises.

2Units and basic calculations

Essential notions:

• Metric tonne (t) = 1,000 kg; cubic metre (m³) for volume.
• Container: 20-foot (about 33 m³ usable, payload often limited to 20 to 25 t depending on the roads) or 40-foot (about 67 m³).
• Air volumetric weight: volume in cm³ / 6,000 (in kg). The higher of actual weight and volumetric weight is charged.
• Tonne-kilometre (t·km): one tonne carried over one kilometre; the basis for comparing road costs.

Air example. 50 packages of 60 × 40 × 40 cm, 12 kg each. Volume per package: 96,000 cm³; volumetric weight: 96,000 / 6,000 = 16 kg. Chargeable weight: 16 kg per package (higher than 12 kg), i.e. 800 kg for the shipment. At 4.50 USD/kg: 3,600 USD, versus 2,700 USD on the actual weight of 600 kg. Light, bulky items (blankets, mosquito nets) are expensive by air.

Road example. 300 t over 450 km at 0.12 USD per t·km: 300 × 450 × 0.12 = 16,200 USD, i.e. 54 USD per tonne.

3Planning rotations

For road transport with own trucks or trucks hired by the day, the number of rotations (round trips) and trucks needed is calculated.

Example. 600 t must be moved in 3 weeks (18 working days) to a warehouse 220 km away. Trucks with a 15 t payload. Average speed on this road: 30 km/h, loading and unloading 4 hours per rotation, 10-hour working day in daylight (no night driving for security reasons).

• Duration of a rotation: 440 km / 30 km/h ≈ 14.7 h of driving + 4 h = 18.7 h, i.e. 2 working days.
• Rotations per truck over 18 days: 9, i.e. 9 × 15 = 135 t per truck.
• Trucks needed: 600 / 135 ≈ 4.4, so 5 trucks (with a margin for breakdowns, 6 in practice).

The assumptions (speed, loading time, waiting days at checkpoints) must come from the field, not from a map: a 220 km road can take one day in the dry season and three in the rainy season.

4Transport contracts and documents

Most often, transporters and freight forwarders selected through competitive bidding and bound by framework agreements (rates per tonne and per route, lead times, responsibilities) are used.

Essential documents:

• Bill of lading (B/L) for sea freight: a negotiable transport document and document of title; the goods are released to the holder of the original bill of lading.
• Air waybill (AWB) for air freight.
• Waybill (consignment note, CMR internationally) for road: quantities loaded, signed at departure and on arrival.
• Packing list, invoice, certificate of origin, health documents depending on the items.

Clauses of the transport contract: liability in the event of loss or damage (often limited by international conventions, hence the value of insurance), lead times, penalties, prohibition of subcontracting without agreement, security rules (no weapons on board, no passengers), and carriage of goods in compliance with humanitarian law.

5Tracking and proof of delivery

Shipment tracking links each shipment to the order, the project and the planned distribution. A simple table is often enough: shipment number, items, quantities, departure date, expected date, actual date, discrepancies, status.

The proof of delivery is the waybill signed and stamped by the consignee, with the quantities received and any reservations. Discrepancies (losses in transit) are handled as follows:

• Normal losses tolerated by the contract (for example 0.2% for bulk grain); beyond that, deducted from the transporter's invoice.
• Damage or theft: written reservations on delivery, report, claim to the transporter or the insurer.

Example. 30 t of flour loaded; 29.6 t received. Loss 0.4 t, i.e. 1.33%. Contractual tolerance 0.5% (0.15 t). Loss chargeable to the transporter: 0.25 t at 600 USD/t = 150 USD deducted from its invoice, with the annotated waybill as evidence.

6Transport in difficult contexts

In insecure or hard-to-reach areas, transport requires particular preparation:

• Access analysis: roads, bridges, seasons, checkpoints, armed actors; access maps shared by the Logistics Cluster and OCHA.
• Convoys: useful in some contexts, but the use of armed escorts is a last resort, governed by the inter-agency guidelines on armed escorts and decided at the highest level.
• Humanitarian notification (deconfliction) of movements to the parties to the conflict, according to the mechanisms in place.
• Air assets: UNHAS for passengers and light cargo, helicopters, airdrops as an absolute last resort (costly and risky).
• Local transporters: often the only ones with access; check their independence from the parties to the conflict and never accept illegitimate payments or "taxes" at roadblocks.

Paying an armed roadblock to pass, even a small amount, may constitute financing of an armed actor and violate donor rules and counter-terrorism laws: the rule must be clear to every driver.