In the last decade, with a continued change in world economic conditions and global trade, transportation of goods has continued to increase. The opening of new and existing markets requires that products and packages move through various regions of the world using available logistical equipment and networks at a faster pace. It also requires that damage be kept at a minimum while providing maximum safety to individuals. This can be achieved by properly designing packages to transportation levels that occur in the supply chain. The purpose of this research is to both measure and analyse the vibration physical forces that occur during rail transport. Rail shipments are widely used across the world, and they are an integral part of the intermodal transfer of ISO containers from ships and trucks to rail. The aim of this paper is to provide vibration levels measured for rail shipments on a major railway line in Central Europe that has not been previously published. The vibration levels that were measured in this study were compared with American Society of Testing and Materials, United States Military Standards and United Kingdom Defense Standard standards and International Safe Transit Association procedures in the form of power spectral density spectrums. A composite power spectral density spectrum is provided which can be used to simulate the measured rail vibration levels in Central Europe. Results are also compared with rail travel in other international shipments for North America and Asia.

In the past several decades, there continues to be an increase in both domestic and international online and catalogue shipments that requires an increase in shipments and handling of parcels by single parcel delivery companies. This study measured the vibration levels that occur in parcel delivery shipments from pickup to delivery, especially the sections involving delivery vans and small vehicles over ground road transportation in Hungary. Goods that were shipped in the regions studied almost always travel at least once by van on varying road conditions such as motorways, main, side or city roads to deliver parcels to the final destination. The aim of this paper was to provide an understanding of vibration levels that occur during van transportation that can be used to pre-shipment test new packages to prevent damage. The measured acceleration-time data were analyzed in terms of power spectral densities (PSDs) and presented with statistical data to provide an understanding of the variability of intensity. The separated and averaged vibration levels that were measured in this study were compared with the American Society of Testing and Materials and the International Safe Transit Association vibration profiles for pickup and delivery vehicle in the form of PSD spectrums. Based on the analyzed data of this study, PSD spectra were provided for various route conditions as well as composite spectra, which can be used to simulate the measured vibration conditions representing van shipments.

In global supply chains, multimodal transportation plays a dominant role in worldwide shipping. The rail, truck, and vessel combination is the most commonly used mode for non‐time sensitive shipments between continents. This study focused on measuring the transportation environment effects (vibration and acceleration levels) in 40‐foot ISO container shipments using multiple modes of transport, originating in Hungary and destined for Mexico, India, and China over several weeks. The study also measured multimodal shipping routes without vessel transportation to China over Trans‐Siberian and Trans‐Manchurian railway lines. The transshipments and handling events in container hubs and terminals were separately analyzed. The results show the comparison of vibration intensity (in PSD) of different route conditions between various continents, and the possibility of acceleration levels during transshipments and handling events. The measured data show that extreme acceleration levels in vertical direction (9.37 G) occur while containers are handled in a seaport, and in lateral (4.45 G) and longitudinal (5.55 G) directions while they are transshipped by truck to rail container terminals. The rail vibration levels in Russia and China showed a lower intensity in the frequency range of 1 to 15 Hz, and higher between 15 and 200 Hz than in Europe; the lowest vibration levels occurred when the containers traveled on the sea, and truck vibration levels were very similar to previous research and ISTA protocols.

In recent years there has been a very significant increase in parcel delivery shipments all over the world. Moreover, this mode of delivery, in some cases, is facing a very intensive flow of goods, such as in annual festive seasons or, for instance, in situations like COVID-19 when personal purchase of goods is strictly limited in malls. This often means that delivery vehicles operate at almost full capacity, and many same or different kinds of packages are therefore stacked in small delivery vehicles. In this study, we measured and analyzed the vibration levels that occur in smaller stacks of packages in parcel delivery shipments, paying particular attention to those circumstances such as stacking layers and free movement spaces that can affect the vibration in different layers of packages. The goal of this paper was to provide information about the vibration levels that occur in smaller stacks of packages that are not unitized and fixed, as is common in parcel transportation. The recorded vibration events were analyzed in terms of power spectral densities (PSDs) and supplied with statistical data of acceleration events to provide an understanding of the variability of intensity. Based on the results of this study, PSD spectra were developed for various free movement conditions, as well as spectra for each layer in the stacked parcel package shipment. The results showed that the vibration level increases in the stacked load upwards and with an increase of free space of possible movement. The results of this study can be used to simulate the measured vibration conditions in laboratory tests conducted on courier express parcel shipments.

Due to the global expansion of transportation and handling companies, the distribution and supply chains of both raw materials and finished products now requires a better understanding of the shipping environment. This international shipping and handling information describing the physical and climatic conditions provides packaging engineers the required technical information to design better packaging to provide protection to products in various segments of the supply chain. In these global supply chains, products emerging from Central Europe also play an increasingly important role today. From this region, the truck and vessel combination is the most dominant transportation mode for non-time sensitive shipments between continents, mainly for shipments not exceeding the volume of a full container or truckload. Most previous studies mainly focused on regional or domestic measurement, using a single shipment mode that was dependent on the dynamics of a single transport vehicle. This study however focuses on measuring the transportation environment effects (vibration levels, shocks, changes of temperature and relative humidity) in a less-than-truckload shipment using multiple modes of transport in trucks and vessels between two companies and continents, originating from Hungary and ending in South Africa over several weeks. This study aims to provide results for this distribution environment while traveling from the northern hemisphere in Eastern Europe to the southern hemisphere in South Africa.