Haulage and Freight are often misused and the words are often interchanged. Haulage is often thought of as transport of goods by road or rail while freight is considered as transport of goods by air or sea but this is not strictly true.
Haulage is defined in the dictionary as the “business of transporting goods by road or railway” The word has English origins and is derived from Haul (or Hall in old English) – ‘pull or draw forcibly. In the old days it was mainly done by a horse or donkey but now we have motorised transport by road or rail. Haulage is mainly used for transport of goods within a country.
Freight is defined in the dictionary as “goods, but not passengers, that are carried from one place to another, by ship, aircraft, train, or truck. Freight has a broader meaning encompassing all forms of transport of goods. Freight has European origins: fraught (Dutch), vracht (German), fragt (Danish), frakt (Swedish), frete (Portugese), flete (Spanish) and fret (French). They all mean “transporting of goods (and in some cases passengers) by water,” Obviously in UK, the word freight has grown to mean transport of goods by ship, aircraft, train or truck. Freight is mainly used for deliveries of goods overseas and across different countries.
Both haulage and freight are used as a noun and verb.
Types of Haulage
Large number of companies specialise in movement of goods from its source (factories, farms, etc.) to where it is needed from supermarkets, warehouses, car showrooms to waste dumps. The main types of haulage are:
- General Haulage – Generally transport of goods from various sectors like agriculture, healthcare, industries, and others.
- Heavy Haulage – used for transporting large and heavy objects. Used mainly in construction industries. It can also include transport of agricultural machinery, cranes, construction equipment, and vehicles.
- Hazardous Haulage – movement of hazardous materials substances such as toxic gas, explosives, chemicals, fertilizers, radioactive substances, and flammable liquids.
- Waste Disposal – used to transport a large amount of waste and recyclable materials.
- Vehicle Haulage – used in transporting vehicles like cars, buses, and motorcycles.
- Parcel Delivery – used in the mass delivery of parcels across the country.
- Fragile Load Haulage – used in in moving fragile goods like glass and digital display screens
- Abnormal Load Haulage – used in transporting unusually large loads like cranes, wind turbines, bridge sections, and oversized machinery..
Types of Freight
Freight can be categorized into three types depending on the mode of transportation. They are air freight, shipments, and land freight. Depending on the size and the type of goods being transported, freight can further be classified into:
- Less than Truckload is most popular form of freight because it is an extremely cost-effective. It allows businesses to combine their freight with those of other businesses, so that they do not have to pay for the cost of using the entire truckload.
- Full Truckload – Uses the entire space available in the truck to carry the freight. This type of freight shipping works best for big loads and packages that require more space or additional conditions, as well as packages that need to arrive at their destination sooner, as you do not make many drops.
- Intermodal Rail – a cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly solution for shipping bulk construction or hazardous materials. Compared to shipping by truck, shipping by rail can save you both time and money.
- Air Freight – The fastest option is using air freight. Ideal for smaller packages. This is the most expensive form of goods transportation and it is best for urgent and perishable products.
- Ocean Freight – most cost-effective mode for shipping freight around the globe. It offers options to ship by full container load or less than container load.
In UK haulage, nearly 80% of the goods are transported by road. See charts below.
Although freight and haulage are often interchanged, it generally does not lead to any confusion and therefore should not be of great concern to most people.
For more information on UK Freight and Haulage, click on the links below:
Understanding the UK Freight Transport System
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