Coal transportation and logistics: where the money leaks

This is Coal Boss's analysis of common practice, not industry data. Freight is often a large part of what a coal deal costs, so the way trucks are arranged, weighed and settled has a direct effect on what is left at the end.

Road transport carries most short and medium distances. The usual problems are familiar: trucks not available when needed, turnaround delays, road conditions on particular routes, fuel costs, and overloading rules. The businesses that keep per-trip records — vehicle, transporter, turnaround and weights — see these problems early.

Rail is used for longer distances and brings its own complexity: rake allocation, loading windows, demurrage and wagon-wise weights. A missed loading window or an overweight wagon adds cost of its own.

Most weight disputes come down to records. When gross, tare and net from the kanta slip are written against the trip once — and the dispatch and invoice use those same figures — an argument about a short delivery becomes a matter of looking it up.

The larger point is connection. When dispatch, stock, invoicing and transport sit on one record, the team spends its time on exceptions instead of routine tracking. (Coal Boss covers road transport today; rail is being developed and isn't live yet.)