Multimodal, combined transport

Every company associated with international relations, faced with the problem of logistics. As a rule, the problem is connected with the fact that the supplier and the buyer cannot reach the mutually beneficial terms of delivery. Payment terms, delivery terms and all formalities must be met. The bulk of buyers want to pay for goods having received confirmation of the logistics company that the goods are on board the vessel. Mostly FOB terms. And the manufacturer, in turn, wants to get paid before his products leave his warehouses. On the terms of the FCA. And the occurrence of such inconvenience is especially important during the first transactions, and this is quite understandable. But in fact, the solution is very simple – it is a multimodal transport. These are logistics companies offering transportation by all available means of transport from the warehouse of the supplier to the warehouse of the buyer. Thus, the buyer can pay for the goods being sure that his logistician has received the goods and is engaged in its transportation to the customer. What is multimodal transportation you can read below. Multimodal transport (also known as combined transport) is the transportation of goods under a single contract, but performed with at least two different modes of transport; the carrier is liable (in a legal sense) for the entire carriage, even though it is performed by several different modes of transport (by rail, sea and road, for example). The carrier does not have to possess all the means of transport, and in practice usually does not; the carriage is often performed by sub-carriers (referred to in legal language as “actual carriers”). The carrier responsible for the entire carriage is referred to as a multimodal transport operator, or MTO. Article 1.1. of the United Nations Convention on International Multimodal Transport of Goods (Geneva, 24 May 1980) (which has not yet, and may never enter into force) defines multimodal transport as follows: “‘International multimodal transport’ means the carriage of goods by at least two different modes of transport on the basis of a multimodal transport contract from a place in one country at which the goods are taken in charge by the multimodal transport operator to a place designated for delivery situated in a different country”