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Can someone explain what "logistics" is? I've always just understood it as shipping and handling, and doesn't FedEx do that? (Therefore, I assume it's not shipp

Can someone explain what "logistics" is? I've always just understood it as shipping and handling, and doesn't FedEx do that? (Therefore, I assume it's not shipping and handling)

shanecleveland 11y ago
Plainly – Getting stuff from one place to another. With international importing/exporting, it goes beyond "shipping and handling." How does it get from the warehouse to the port? Going by ocean or air? What taxes, duties, etc. are due at customs? How does it get from the receiving port to the final destination? Who arranges each step? Who pays for these things?
- personjerry 11y ago
  Ah, okay. Why don't they just use FedEx then?
  - tim333 11y ago
    Have you seen FedEx's prices? I recently got a quote for a small packet from London to Tiblisi. From $109 + vat for the slow service.
  - shanecleveland 11y ago
    If you sold something on E-Bay to someone in China then, yes, you might just use FedEx. If you are exporting a container-load of apples that need to be refrigerated and arrive within two weeks, then there are a lot of "logistics" to figure out. FedEx may be able to do it – perhaps part of the equation – but there's likely faster and cheaper methods available. Figuring that out is logistics.
hyperpape 11y ago
As an example of how complex even FedEx can get, there are cases where it may make business sense to put a bunch of goods on a truck, drive n miles to a place where you'll get a better FedEx rate, and then ship from there (zone skipping).
monknomo 11y ago
For very small businesses selling small amounts of small things, the right answer is to use FedEx and DHL. For everybody else, FedEx/DHL is hella expensive if you want to ship a couple conexes worth of stuff. The way freight companies are set up, you can't just pull up with a container and say "What's the rate to Albuquerque?" you have to have a whole plan that takes into account transfers, mode shifts, delays, temporary storage, customs, who can sign for it, paying every single entity involved in touching the freight, and a bunch of stuff I don't even know about.

Can someone explain what "logistics" is? I've always just understood it as shipping and handling, and doesn't FedEx do that? (Therefore, I assume it's not shipping and handling)

shanecleveland 11y ago

Plainly – Getting stuff from one place to another. With international importing/exporting, it goes beyond "shipping and handling." How does it get from the warehouse to the port? Going by ocean or air? What taxes, duties, etc. are due at customs? How does it get from the receiving port to the final destination? Who arranges each step? Who pays for these things?

personjerry 11y ago
Ah, okay. Why don't they just use FedEx then?
- tim333 11y ago
  Have you seen FedEx's prices? I recently got a quote for a small packet from London to Tiblisi. From $109 + vat for the slow service.
- shanecleveland 11y ago
  If you sold something on E-Bay to someone in China then, yes, you might just use FedEx. If you are exporting a container-load of apples that need to be refrigerated and arrive within two weeks, then there are a lot of "logistics" to figure out. FedEx may be able to do it – perhaps part of the equation – but there's likely faster and cheaper methods available. Figuring that out is logistics.

hyperpape 11y ago

As an example of how complex even FedEx can get, there are cases where it may make business sense to put a bunch of goods on a truck, drive n miles to a place where you'll get a better FedEx rate, and then ship from there (zone skipping).

monknomo 11y ago

For very small businesses selling small amounts of small things, the right answer is to use FedEx and DHL. For everybody else, FedEx/DHL is hella expensive if you want to ship a couple conexes worth of stuff. The way freight companies are set up, you can't just pull up with a container and say "What's the rate to Albuquerque?" you have to have a whole plan that takes into account transfers, mode shifts, delays, temporary storage, customs, who can sign for it, paying every single entity involved in touching the freight, and a bunch of stuff I don't even know about.