The Study of Freight Management and Cost-Effectiveness in Rail Freight to Oversea Markets

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) investigate goods management for rail freight to overseas, 2) investigate cost-effective management of exporting, and 3) support Thai export entrepreneurs who engage in international rail freight. This research employed a qualitative method. In-depth interviews and focus groups were conducted for data collection. Then, the data was analyzed. The results showed that a goods process and cost-effective management were started once the agreement or sale contract was completed. Hence, a process of goods management for rail freight can be classified into 10 activities. Such activities start from an 1) export plan 2) goods management 3) packaging management 4) container and transportation management 5) obtaining export permit and standard certification, 6) export documentation management 7) train and carriage reservation 8) stuffing and container delivery 9) export customs clearance and transit and 10) delivery notification to the buyers or oversea procurement. It is obvious that to successfully manage the goods and cost-effectiveness, the entrepreneurs are required to achieve those activities without errors. A reason is because such errors could affect the costs and the efficiency of the export processes such as the delay, and increasing expenses and the use of resources. Therefore, it can be summarized that goods and cost-effective management on rail freight transportation to international markets are including the 10 activities with accuracy, completely on timeline of planning without any errors occurring in the operation processes.