Transport capacity: How many goods can be transported?
In order to successfully bring a product or certain individual parts to their destination, sufficient transport capacity is required. This refers to resources in the form of trucks, containers, and transportation services as a whole that producers can use. A typical example of limited transport capacity is rail, where only a limited number of trains, wagons and slots are available to travel on routes.
The more this transport route is used or demanded, the more prices rise. This in turn has an impact on the type of goods that can be economically transported from A to B at all on the basis of these transports. In other areas, too, it is sometimes the case that transport capacities do not grow at the same rate as transport requirements (mainly due to higher demand and production) - a shortage then arises that influences pricing.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that certain goods cannot be diverted to other modes of transport. For example, standardized ISO containers are not suitable for every transport route, and if they are, then only for transport between individual hubs. There are also certain restrictions, for example in air and sea transport, which exclude the transport of individual goods. Thus, it can happen that sufficient transport capacities are available, but in fact cannot be used.
