refers to a type of land transport used to convey goods or people. Based on its features, differs from , air transport and rail transport.
In a wider sense, can encompass travelling aboard private vehicles. In practice, generally refers to the transport of goods within a country or throughout the world. The term is most used in the world of logistics, concerning the and delivery of products. In fact, in this specific situation, it is quite common to use the abbreviation RFT (Road ).
Nowadays, is fully integrated in the , coming in addition to a much wider offer including transport, handling, , and possibly even packing and packaging. Companies can choose to either internalize this activity, or outsource it by calling upon a subcontracting transporter. The latter therefore stands as a service provider, entrusted with conveying goods from a point A to a point B on behalf of a third party, in exchange for compensation. For economic and productivity reasons, rare are the companies that do not call upon a stakeholder specialized in for dispatching their products.
calls upon the skills of numerous professionals, perfectly qualified for their job and required to carry out various tasks, such as:
Loading and unloading;
Handling (mechanized or manual);
Transporting goods via road infrastructures.
is governed by strict regulations, pertaining to both the truck drivers and the goods transported. One of the regulations stipulates the authorized driving time. Indeed, drivers are obliged to make regular breaks. This, added to high fuel costs, directly impacts the appeal of compared to its competitors ( and rail freight particularly).
Transporting goods via road implies drafting and signing a transport contract, agreed to by both parties (the exporter and the transporter). A waybill must namely detail:
Loading and unloading addresses;
Delivery dates and deadlines;
Features associated with the goods;
Registration numbers for all vehicles used for ;
etc.
There are several types of vehicles dedicated to road transport, each boasting features well-suited for conveying different kinds of goods (according to their weight, volume, etc.):
Trucks or carriers;
Road trains;
Semi-tractor trailers;
Long-length road transport vehicles;
etc.
represents 80% of all goods transported in France.
About 1/3 of trucks out on the road are in fact driving empty in France.
The turnover for is assessed at 53 billion euros.
Over 75% of goods transported by road are transported over distances smaller than 150 km. Trucks dedicated to road transport represent less than 7% of all road traffic.
(Source: https://www.e-tlf.com/dossiers-tlf/chiffres-cles/
https://www.salon-technotrans.com/le-transport-en-chiffres/)
The Geneva Convention, known as (Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road), signed on 19 May 1956 in Geneva and enforced in 1958
Law on the guidelines for internal transport dated 31 December 1982
Labor Code
French national collective convention on and auxiliary transport activities