Indian Dairy News | Transport Equipment

Transport Equipment

Importance

Under Indian conditions, milk has to be regularly collected and transported twice a day (morning and evening).

Modes of transport

These depend upon the carrying load, the distance of collection and local conditions.

Modes of milk transportation in India

(road or rail)

Mode	Optimum load (kg)	Optimum distance (km)	Remarks
Head-load	15-25	3 – 8	Generally employed for small loads and distances. Important in hilly areas.
Shoulder-sling	Up to 40	3 – 6	Meant for heavier loads but for shorter distances than head-load.
Pack-animal	Up to 80	6 - 10	Ponies, horses and donkeys usually employed.
Bullock-cart	300-400	10 –12	Rather slow.
Tonga	250-300	12 or more	Larger quantities transported; faster than head-load, shoulder-sling and pack animal.
Bicycle	40 or more	15 or more	Quick and handy; easily accessible to milk producer’s home.
Cycle-rickshaw	150-200	10 or more	More carrying capacity than bicycle.
Boat	40-200	2 – 8	Only means of transport when rivers, etc., have to be crossed.
Auto-rickshaw	250-500	15 or more	Greater carrying capacity and faster than cycle-rickshaw.
Motor truck	½ to 3 tonnes	15 or more	Increasingly in use with more road building and improvement programmes.
Railway wagon	11 tonnes or more	80 or more	Great scope in future.
Tankers	5 tonnes or more	80 or more	Great scope in future.

The individual advantages of each have been stated below

Individual advantages of road and rail transport

Type of transport	Advantages
Road	i) Loading and unloading possible directly at godown of seller and buyer.
	ii) Cheaper than rail over short distances
	iii) Less time-consuming.
Rail	i) Cheaper than road over long distances.
Rail	ii) Larger quantity of milk can be handled at a time.

The individual advantages of each have been given below

Type of Transport	Advantages
Can	i) Handling small quantities of milk possible.
Tanker	i) Quicker mode of transport.
	ii) Lower cost.
	iii) Better temperature control.
	iv) Less risk of contamination.
	v) More time and labour saving.
	vi) Lower investment in cans.
	vii) Overall saving in detergents, etc.

Types Of Containers Used

These are made of:

Problems

The problems in relation to collection and transportation of milk are :