Transportation Mode

Transportation Mode is a key operational parameter in foreign trade customer management, referring to the specific form of carriage for goods from the place of origin to the destination, mainly including sea freight, air freight, land transport (road/rail), express delivery, and multimodal transport. In a foreign trade customer management system, this field is used to record the customer's preferred transportation mode in order to provide quotations, arrange booking, prepare documents, and track logistics. Use cases include: confirming transportation requirements when a customer makes an inquiry, selecting a carrier during order execution, and verifying transportation terms when handling customs clearance documents. Notes: The transportation mode directly affects cost, transit time, and risk allocation, and must be used in conjunction with trade terms (such as FOB, CIF); different transportation modes correspond to different documents (such as ocean bills of lading and air waybills) and affect insurance purchase. Unlike 'transportation terms,' transportation mode emphasizes the physical carrier, while terms focus on cost and responsibility allocation. Foreign trade practitioners should accurately maintain this information in customer files to avoid delivery delays or extra costs caused by incorrect transportation modes.