The present millennium has seen the evolution of various professions which has great influence on the public system management. The art of transporting the finished product from the company’s floor to the client’s compound by an effective arrangement of the transport system is called transport management. This involves a series of planning and some practical skills like LIFO (last in first out), FIFO (first in first out) and effective management within stipulated budget. This aspect has specific algorithm behind and this entire procedure is a specialized study called transport management. No company can exist without the effective logistic support and the whole system falls under supply chain management system.

The significance of transport management is to ensure that:

• Demonstration of significant cost savings
• Significant contribution to the overall growth of the company
• Ensuring that the finished product reaches customer’s place in the minimum possible time
• Managing network of multi-modal system
• Third party procurement service
• Ensuring inner and intra-city transport
• Possessing effective skills over 3 routes (land, water, and air transport).

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A professional course in transport management ensures certain skills that an aspirant wills expertise on. In fact, a student will learn the technique of:

1. Sourcing: This requires the skill of finding the resources or raw materials at the right time. Getting quotes from suppliers and maintaining the rates as low as possible are a few thumb rules here.
2. Transportation: Getting the most efficient modes of transport in all three modes- air, water and road transport at the lowest possible time.
3. Working under budget: The entire procedure has a specific a budget and a professional should ensure that this is being done within the ensured budget.
4. Time management: The time from warehouse to client’s compound needs to be done in a certain timeframe so as to ensure the client does not suffer out of any production deficiency.
5. Managing the team: Logistics management involves handling a team of loader suppliers, drivers, and suppliers. They can be directly under the payroll or company or might not be.

There are various types of career prospects after successful completion of a course in transport management.

Retail manufacturing: Transport management graduates are employed by retail manufacturing industry to ensure efficient movement of finished products from company warehouse to clients place. The job will be to ensure multimodal transportation management system, carrier and contract management system,  route guide configuration and rating, planning of load or consolidation, fleet integration in private/dedicated , control of lead flow in buyer managed system, supporting supplier compliance program, scheduling dock appointment or compliance program, synchronizing data and validation across key commercial document, tracking visibility or performance management, freight bill or audit settlement.

Fast moving consumer good (FMCG) industry: Transport management graduates are required by the FMCG industry. Starting from sourcing of materials to shipping and retail, ability to move the products as fast rate to the market is the main job responsibility of the managers.  The entire process could be automated or static. In case it is automated than to make the system viable at everybody’s end is the responsibility of the transport managers.

Healthcare industry: Transport management professionals are widely required in the healthcare industry. Be it pharmaceutical industry or chain of hospitals, the manager is required to keep track of raw materials, ensure that the finished products leave the factory premise in time, the quality of medicines should be kept intact by involving air-conditioned containers that maintain certain temperature, optimize network, administer global tenders, maintain warehouse and order fulfillment and many other responsibilities.

E-commerce: For companies which are e-commerce enabled, they have a huge requirement for transport management graduates. The key responsibilities include- appointment of transport partners, liaison with the transport partners and the IT department regarding timely shipping to the customer’s house, making sure that customers receive the product in right time, cost control on the entire operation and much more.

Freight forwarding companies: Transport graduates have a special role to play here. They are required to keep track of the fleet and make sure they reach the destination in time. They are required to maintain a special database and thereby maintain track of the vehicles which are in use and reappoint those unused ones for service.

Consultancy: Transport management graduates can he hired by certain companies as consultants to ensure they give the following value additions:

• Improved communication
• Transparency to supply chain
• Improvement in customer satisfaction
• Reduction of cost
• Efficiency improvement
• Delivery on time.

Read also: What are the companies that absorb transport management professionals and what are the remuneration packages offered by them?

There are various other industries of big, medium and small sized capacities which absorb transport management it requires graduates. In fact, logistics being a very vital part of any business nowadays, it requires professional brains to handle each and every minute issue. Handling minute activities ensure cost reduction of every step. Moreover, customer satisfaction is the main motto companies are heading towards. Customer retention depends on a lot of efficient transport management. Transport management has a great significance in today’s management.