Get to know the vital terms of Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
Liner service refers to the operation of scheduled and regular shipping between known ports along a set route and published schedule. This is a predictable and consistent shipment that gives businesses the chance to plan with certainty; it is therefore ideal for organizations that require very dependable transportation solutions.
Fixed Routes and Schedules: Liner services follow fixed routes and schedules, providing shippers and consignees with the possibility of planning logistics around dependable departure and arrival times.
Carries cargo for multiple shippers: The liner service is often taking cargo of several customers within one shipment. Liner service is therefore apt for transporting a wide range of cargo from containerized cargo to bulk commodities.
Cost-Efficiency: Carriage sharing between shippers is less costly to each shipper than single shipper usage, and many view it as an attractive cost structure for the carriage of goods over long distances such as across the oceans.
Reliability: Recurring schedules enable the shipper to anticipate transit times better, which again benefits planners and facilitators in better-scheduling inventory and ensuring timely delivery.
International Coverage: Large-liner services have networks that span at least two continents, thereby giving any business the capacity to access markets on any other continent.
Lower Shipping Costs: By consolidating shipments from different customers, liner services offer savings over chartered or exclusive shipping contracts.
Full Container Load: Those shippers who have enough cargo to load a full container.
Less-than-Container Load: Shippers who have smaller consignments now share container space and shipping is done cheaply.
An important advantage of liner service logistics for business is that it offers a reliable and relatively cost-effective means of transporting cargo internationally because it has lines serving fixed routes on regular schedules and added flexibility in the use of shared containers. Liner service facilitates global trade by making key ports an enabler for the different types of goods, providing an efficient means of transportation.