shipping, transportation of passengers and goods on waterways. From prehistoric times shipping has had a major influence on human social development. Water routes, unlike roads, did not need building, and the difficulties and dangers were less than those offered by mountains, marshes, and enemy tribes. Therefore many early civilizations developed on navigable rivers or on the coasts of warm seas.

Shipping in Ancient Times

Ancient peoples famous for their shipping enterprises include the Phoenicians, the Cretans, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. The shipping routes of those highly civilized peoples were chiefly in the Mediterranean, but their voyages extended to India, along the Atlantic coast of Africa, and to Britain, where tin was secured. The goods shipped consisted largely of luxuries, including spices, perfumes, and such fine pottery as the famous Athenian ware; but shipments of grain became important as cities grew in size.

Shipping in the Commercial Revolution

The great modern merchant marines (national fleets of commercial ships) first appeared in the commercial revolution. Leaders in shipping included the Spanish, the Portuguese, and the Venetians. The activities of mariners of SW Europe included discovery and conquest in the New World. In the 13th and 14th cent. the Hanseatic League built up a great trading and fishing fleet, while the Italian city-republics developed marine insurance on modern lines. England's shipping industry was associated with colonization, with the development of manufacturing, and especially with leadership in the Industrial Revolution. The greatest competitors of the British were the French and the Dutch. Both were vanquished in war and strangled in peace by the British Navigation Acts.

The introduction of slave labor into the American colonies made the slave trade one of the most profitable branches of shipping for two centuries. America's vast resources in timber provided an advantage in building wooden ships, and swift sailing vessels of American design, such as the schooner and the clipper, dominated shipping until the mid-19th cent. The introduction of steel steamships enabled Great Britain to reassume the chief place in shipbuilding and shipping.

Shipping in the Twentieth Century

From about 1900 until World War I, Germany held second place in the world in both navy and merchant marine, and its challenge to Great Britain's domination of the sea was an important cause of the war. In the period between the two world wars the principal maritime nations were Great Britain and its dominions, the United States, Japan, Norway, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and France. The United States merchant marine steadily declined, and in order to stimulate shipbuilding the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 created the U.S. Maritime Commission. At the beginning of World War II in Europe, U.S. shipping, handicapped by the Neutrality Act, again declined. American vessels were diverted to trade outside the war zones and many were transferred to other flags, mainly the Panamanian.

After the entry of the United States into the war (Dec., 1941), a huge shipbuilding program rapidly got under way, and standardized vessels were turned out by assembly-line methods. A brief period of United States dominance in world shipping followed the war. Subsequently, however, the U.S. merchant marine again declined steadily; as the expense of American labor and ship construction increased, the cost of operation went beyond competitive levels, despite the fact that the American shipping industry was receiving a large subsidy from the federal government.

Since the 1960s, U.S. ports have modernized their facilities by automating operations, installing computerized tracking systems, and handling containers ("intermodal shipping") that can be transferred directly to truck trailers or rail cars. Older facilities that do not have the room to handle containerized shipping have declined. These changes have greatly reduced the number of jobs in the shipping industry.

Much of the cargo formerly carried in American vessels and in those of other major nations is now carried by so-called flag of convenience fleets. Such lines arose with the tendency of large shippers, especially those of Greece and the United States, to avoid the high taxes of their home countries by registering their ships in low-tax nations such as Panama and Liberia. In 1998 about 1.08 trillion tons of goods were imported to or exported from the United States by ship, but vessels flying the U.S. flag handled only 3% of that shipping.

See also ship; maritime law.

Shipping is physical process of transporting goods and cargo. Virtually every product ever made, bought, or sold has been affected by shipping. Despite the many variables in shipped products and locations, there are only three basic types of shipments: land, air, and sea.

Land or "ground" shipping can be either by train or by truck. Trucking is easily the most popular form of shipping. Even in Air and Sea shipments, ground transportation is still required to take the product from its origin to the airport or seaport and then to its destination. Ground transportation is typically more affordable than air shipments, but more expensive than shipping by sea. Trucks are also much faster than ships and rail but slower than planes.

Many trucks will take freight directly from the shipper to its destination in what is known as a door to door shipment. Vans and trucks of all sizes make deliveries to sea ports and air ports where freight is moved in bulk also.

Much shipping is done aboard actual ships. An individual nation's fleet and the people that crew it are referred to its "merchant navy" or "merchant marine". Merchant shipping is essential to the world economy, carrying the bulk of international trade. The ships are also extremely expensive constructions themselves, being some of the largest man-made vehicles ever. The term originates with the shipping trade of wind power ships, and has come to refer to the delivery of cargo and parcels of any size above the common mail of letters and postcards.

Ground shipping can be cheaper and less restrictive to size, quantity, weight, and type of freight than by air transport. Air transport is usually reserved for products which must be sent within a shorter time frame. Some carriers offer ground shipping that operates on an exact timeline as air does. This is a recent development becoming mainstream among major carriers since the late 1990s. UPS and FedEx both offer guaranteed day ground shipping.

Shipping can more generally refer to the transport of freight ("shipments"), independent of the mode of transport.

Billing methods

• Main article: Incoterm

The most common trading terms used in shipping goods internationally are:

• Freight on Board OR Free On Board (FOB): freight on board means that the exporter delivers the goods at the specified location. Example, FOB Kunming Airport (the exporter delivers the goods at Kunming airport). This means exporter is bound to deliver the goods at the Kunming Airport at his cost and expenses. In the case, the freight and other expenses for outbound traffic is borne by the importer.
• Cost and Freight (C&F,CFR, CNF): (With insurance payable by the importer). The exporter pays the ocean shipping/air freight costs to the specified location. Example, C&F Los Angeles (the exporter pays the ocean shipping/air freight costs to Los Angeles). Many of the shipping carriers (such as UPS, DHL, FEDEX) offer guarantees on their delivery times. These are known as GSR guarantees or "guaranteed service refunds". This means that if the parcels are not delivered on time, the customer is entitled to a refund on the shipping cost. UPS, DHL and FEDEX make it difficult however for customers to determine which parcels are late and request their refunds, and thereby allow approximately 90% of potential refunds to go unclaimed. That amounts to over $1 billion USD per year in unclaimed refunds.
• Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF): Insurance, and Freight are all paid by the exporter to the specified location. Example, CIF Los Angeles (the exporter pays the ocean shipping/air freight costs to Los Angeles including the insurance).

See also

• Affreightment
• Mid-stream operation
• Ship transport
• Rail transport
• Transport
• Incoterm
• Shipping line
• Transshipment
• List of ship companies