MODES OF TRANSPORTATION

Nilsson, I. (2009) defined mode of transport as a term used to distinguish between different ways
of transportation or transporting people or goods. The different modes of transport are air, water,
and land transport, which include railway, road and off-road transport. Other modes also exist,
including pipelines, cable transport, and space transport. Human-powered transport and animal-
powered transport are sometimes regarded as their own mode, but never fall into the other
categories. Military modes of transportation fall in the same categories but vary from one
country to another depending on each country’s geographical location and level of development
in terms of infrastructure and technology.

Gaston and Gilmer (2011), alludes that transport modes are thus designed to either
carry passengers or freight, but most modes can carry a combination of both. For instance, an
automobile has a capacity to carry some freight while a passenger plane has a belly-hold that is
used for luggage and cargo. Each mode is characterized by a set of technical, operational and
commercial characteristics. Technical characteristics relate to attributes such as speed, capacity,
and motive technology while operational characteristics involve the context in which modes
operate and that includes speed limits, safety conditions, and protection. In Zimbabwe, the
military has limited modes of transport due to the country’s geographical location and
technological advancement. The country is landlocked and has no sea vessels except small boats
for use in the inland water bodies. Developed states like the USA have their military with all
these above stated modes of transportation. The following modes of transportation are thus
discussed as they apply to military transport operations.

Animal Powered Transportation

Ballis, A. (2006), agreed that animal-powered transport is the use of working animals for the
transport of people and or goods. Humans may use some of the animals directly, use them
as pack animals for carrying goods, or harness them, alone or in teams, to pull sleds or
wheeled vehicles. Animal powered transport was commonly used before the 18th century when
the engine powered transport system was not yet invented. Today, animal powered transport is

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still used in 3rd world countries where road infrastructure is poor for military operations. The
Zimbabwe Defence Forces uses horses to patrol the borders and the horses are there to carry the
soldiers on patrol. The ZDF still maintains a Mounted Regiment with horses for use as a mode of
transport for its operations. The advantage of animal powered transportation is that they can
manourve in the difficulty terrain that road transport is not able to access. Logistics support for
animals is limited as the animals can depend on the local forage to feed them. However, animal
powered transportation is slow in speed and carries very limited goods/persons.

Road Transportation

Holguín and Aros (2013) reiterate that road infrastructures are large consumers of space with the
lowest level of physical constraints among transportation modes. However, physiographical
constraints are significant in road construction with substantial additional costs to overcome
features such as rivers or rugged terrain. While historically road transportation was developed to
support non-motorized forms of transportation (walking, domestic animals and cycling at the end
of the 19th century), it is motorization that has shaped the most of its development since the
beginning of the 20th century.

Road transportation has an average operational flexibility as vehicles can serve several purposes
but are rarely able to operate outside roads. Road transport systems have high maintenance costs,
both for the vehicles and infrastructures. They are mainly linked to light industries and freight
distribution where rapid movements of freight in small batches are the norm. Yet, with
containerization, road transportation has become a crucial link in freight distribution. Military
transports operations are just the same as in the commercial sector. Army logistics include
deploying forces from one theatre to the other using light or heavy transport carrying vehicles.
Heavy vehicles can be linked with trailers whilst buses can also be used for deploying military
personnel. Road transport for military resupplies has always included refrigerated trucks, lowbed
trucks, and tankers for oils, lubricants and water.

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A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous vehicle (AV), connected and autonomous
vehicle (CAV), driverless car, robo-car, or robotic car, is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its
environment and moving safely with little or no human input.

Self-driving cars combine a variety of sensors to perceive their surroundings, such as radar, lidar,
sonar, GPS, odometry and inertial measurement units. Advanced control systems interpret
sensory information to identify appropriate navigation paths, as well as obstacles and relevant
signage. Long-distance trucking is seen as being at the forefront of adopting and implementing
the technology.

Rail Transportation and Pipelines

Railways are composed of a traced path on which wheeled vehicles are bound. In light of recent
technological developments, rail transportation also includes monorails and maglev. They have
an average level of physical constraints and a low gradient is required, particularly for freight.
Heavy industries are traditionally linked with rail transport systems, although containerization
has improved the flexibility of rail transportation by linking it with road and maritime modes.
Rail is by far the land transportation mode offering the highest capacity of load. Rail
transportation has been widely used in military operations particularly during the World War I
and II. Trains were used to transport troops, to maintain resupplies as stocks on wheels and move
heavy arsenal in one trip. The DRC war of 1998-2002 witnessed the intensive use of railway
transport in deployment of troops and their equipment by both the allied forces and the rebels
involved in that war. However, railway line is expensive to construct and cannot be constructed
in rugged terrain.

Pipeline routes are practically unlimited as they can be laid on land or underwater. Their purpose
is to move liquids such as petroleum products over long distances in a cost-effective fashion. For
developed countries which have permanent and large military bases, they establish pipelines to
resupply the bases with these petroleum products. However, for developing countries like
Zimbabwe, the military takes interest in national pipelines like the Feruka pipeline, which if not
secure, will affect the operating system of the military as the army uses tankers to collect the
fuels from the storages supplied by the pipeline. That helps to reduce distance and costs. The

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longest oil pipeline extends over 9,344 km from the Russian arctic oilfields in eastern Siberia to
Western Europe. Pipeline construction costs vary according to the diameter and increase
proportionally with the distance and with the viscosity of fluids (from low viscosity gas to high
viscosity oil). Once the pipeline is established, there is continuous flow of the oils and fuels at
low costs since nothing much will be required to make the fluids move.

Maritime Transportation

Butler, R. (2013), postulates that, with physical properties such as buoyancy and limited friction,
maritime transportation is the most effective mode to move large quantities of cargo over long
distances. Main maritime routes are composed of oceans, coasts, seas, lakes, rivers, and
channels. Armies like the USA military has large warships capable of carrying other modes like
fighting planes, road transport and bulk combat service support while other military forces do not
need to have any warship. The Zimbabwean military’s experience in the use of maritime
transportation was in the DRC war along such big rivers like Congo and Ubangi. The forces used
large boats connected with barges for combat supplying and fighting. These boats were designed
and operated with flexibility that enabled movement covering long distances but at a very slow
speed. They however offer minimum protection against enemy attacks.

Ranaiefar, F. (2012) alludes that due to the location of economic activities, maritime
circulation takes place on specific parts of the maritime space, particularly over the North
Atlantic and the North Pacific. The construction of channels, locks, and dredging are attempts to
facilitate maritime circulation by reducing its discontinuity, but such endeavors are highly
expensive. Comprehensive inland waterway systems include Western Europe, the Volga/Don
system, the St. Lawrence/Great Lakes system, the Mississippi and its tributaries, the Amazon, the
Panama/Paraguay and the interior of China.

Maritime transportation has high terminal costs since port infrastructures are among the most
expensive to build, maintain and operate. These high costs also relate to maritime shipping where
the construction, operation, and maintenance of ships is capital intensive. With containerization,
maritime shipping has become the safest storage facilities of military hardware and commercial
allowing military operations to be successfully conducted in different parts of the world.

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Air Transportation

Allen and Browne (2010) postulates that, air routes are practically unlimited. Commercial and
military air transport uses the same facilities as airports and airstrips. However, military aircraft
are designed in such a way that they can land and take off at facilities which are reduced in
length so that they are able to deploy and resupply the forces which can be deployed in any
terrain. Modern aircraft now require runways shorter like those that can be on warships or easily
cleared in the bush. The military requires different aircraft modes ranging from war planes,
reconnaissance planes and military cargo planes. Air transport constraints are however,
multidimensional and include the site (a commercial plane needs about 3,300 meters of runway
for landing and take-off), the climate, fog, and aerial currents. Air transportation activities for
both commercial and military, of late, have been accommodating growing quantities of high-
value freight and playing a growing role in global logistics.

Drones which are unmanned aerial vehicles can be used to transport vital medical equipment and
life saving blood and chemotherapy kits between hospitals and field surgeries in military
operations. Drones can also be used for the transportation and delivery of small size and critical
goods and equipment required in the operational theatre. Instead of sending patrols for the
purposes of gathering intelligence, drones can take and send intelligence information in realtime.

Cable Cars as a means of Transport

Invented over a century ago for exploring mountainous regions, aerial cable cars have recently
made an appearance in several big cities, where they are being used as an alternative to
conventional urban transport modes. This technology uses electrically-propelled steel cables to
move suspended cars (or cabins) between terminals at different elevation points. The cable cars
can also be utilized for transporting men and materiel for operational purposes.

To conclude, military transport modes complement each other through intermodal transportation
for the military operations to be successful. Military modes of transport usually differ from
commercial modes in such a way that they are designed to give more protection to the forces and
that they are able to operate in difficulty terrain or conditions.

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References

Allen, J. and M. Browne. (2010). Considering the Relationship Between Freight Transport and
Urban Form. Green Logistics Project.

Ballis, A. (2006). Freight Villages: Warehouse Design and Rail Link Aspects. Presented at 85th
Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., p. 16.

Butler, R. (2013). Using Freight Advanced Traveler Information Systems to Promote Urban
Freight Mobility. U.S. Department of Transportation. Washington, D.C., p. 11.

Gaston, P. E. and D. Gilmer. (2011). Superstreets in Texas. Presented at the ITS Texas Annual
Meeting (November 11, 2011).

Holguín-Veras, J. and F. Aros-Vera. (2013). Self-Supported Freight Demand Management:

Pricing and Incentives. (in review).

Nilsson, I. (2009). Sustainable City Logistics – Efficient Access for Freight. Schener North (part
of SB Schenker), Gothenburg, Sweden

Ranaiefar, F. (2012). Intelligent Freight Transportation System. Institute of Transportation

Studies, University of California–Irvine, p. 12.