Transportation Assignment

1. Calculate the distances and time between the locations mentioned on the tracking
statement.

Initial location Destination Distance Total time

ROGERS, MN HAGERSTOWN, MD 1062 miles 86 hours 10 minutes

HAGERSTOWN, MD NORTH WALES, PA 180 miles 7 hours 18 minutes

NORTH WALES, PA VALLEY FORGE, PA 16.6 miles 6 hours 26 minutes

Total 1258.6 miles 99 hours 54 minutes

2. Identify the role that each leg of the journey plays (e.g. pick-up, line haul, delivery, etc.).

Date Activity Location Role

Wednesday 10:04 am Shipment ROGERS, MN Pick up

information sent to FedEx
4:00 pm Picked up

Thursday 1:37 am Left FedEx origin facility ROGERS, MN Line-haul

Sunday 3:47 pm Arrived at FedEx HAGERSTOWN,

location MD

Sunday 9:34 pm Departed HAGERSTOWN, MD Line-haul

FedEx location

Monday 4:52 am At local NORTH

FedEx facility WALES, PA

Monday 7:30 am On FedEx vehicle for NORTH WALES, PA Delivery

delivery

1:56 pm Delivered VALLEY FORGE

 3. Identify the mode of transportation that is likely used.

Date Activity Location Mode of Note

transportation

Wednesday 10:04 am Shipment ROGERS, MN Motor Freight

information sent to
FedEx
4:00 pm Picked up

Thursday 1:37 am Left FedEx ROGERS, MN Intermodal Rail is the cheapest and
origin facility (Rail) reasonably fast over long
distances
Sunday 3:47 pm Arrived at HAGERSTOWN,
FedEx location MD

Sunday 9:34 pm Departed HAGERSTOWN, Motor Freight

FedEx location MD (Truck) or Air
Freight
Monday 4:52 am At local NORTH
FedEx facility WALES, PA

Monday 7:30 am On FedEx NORTH WALES, Motor Freight

vehicle for delivery PA (Truck)

1:56 pm Delivered VALLEY

FORGE

4. Explain the routing between origin and destination (e.g. how much of a straight line
between origin and destination).

Initial location Destination Distance Explanation

ROGERS, MN HAGERSTOWN, MD 1062 miles Total distance is 1258.6 miles.It is

not a straight line.
HAGERSTOWN, MD NORTH WALES, PA 180 miles
The route starts from Rogers to
NORTH WALES, PA VALLEY FORGE, PA 16.6 miles Hagerstown, moving up to the north
in North Wales. Items were picked
ROGERS, MN VALLEY FORGE, PA 1258.6 miles from the shipper in Rogers, MN to
FedEx facility in Rogers,MN.
Items were transferred in a long line
haul facility in Hagerstown. In
 FedEx facility in Hagerstown,
shipment was sorted and sent to
North Wales, PA.
It is fairly a straight line from North
Wakes to Valley Forge. The
shipment was deconsolidated and
delivered to consignee in Valley
Forge, PA.

5. Analyze the efficiency of the routing (e.g. why the company likely chose this routing).

● Selection of routing of FedEx optimizes the efficiency of the process. FedEx has a

local network of terminals across the country. FedEx uses several modes of

transportation to the best of their advantages.

● From Roger, MN to Hagerstown, MD, with the distance of 1062 miles, rail is the

cheapest and reasonably fast over long distances in terms of cost and fuel efficiency.

● FedEx has optimized the routing by combining the advantages of rail and truck as

the freight can reach any spot a regular truck could reach. In reality, Intermodal

freight shipments are typically much cheaper than TL.

● For short distances, using motor freight is more advantageous as it is fast and it can

be found everywhere.

6. Express any areas of difficulty

Transportation cost, namely fuel cost. Improving the fuel efficiency of US vehicles is the

single biggest step we can take to cut the country's oil consumption. Higher fuel price is the

main contributor to the increase of transportation cost for FedEx.

There are also several external factors such as the availability of vehicles for pick up and

delivery. Sometimes, natural events such as storms, heavy rain,.... etc can partly affect the

effectiveness of the routing.

7. Reflect on what you learned in this assignment.

This assignment enables me to acquire a profound understanding of different modes of

transportation. The lessons also help me to understand that different modes of

transportation have competitive advantages and by combining them together, we can

optimize the cost effectiveness as well as to distinguish when we should place an emphasis

on cost or speed when it comes to consideration.