Transport and logistics professions

As essential links in the economic chain, transport and logistics are crucial to all economic activities and to the country's competitiveness. They are the work of a wide variety of players who act in a complementary manner, but also in a context of fierce competition on a national and European scale.

Transport and logistics activities can be carried out in-house by market or non-market players who are not professionals in the field (industrial or commercial companies, construction firms, agricultural cooperatives, public establishments or administrations, etc.) and who have chosen to carry out, with their own human and material resources, and as an accessory to their main activity, all or part of the routing of their own goods. This is known as "own-account transport" or "private transport".

These activities can also be carried out by companies whose business it is, or by transport and logistics service providers to whom these operations are subcontracted by their customers. This is known as "transport for hire or reward" or "public transport". The trend is to outsource transport services to these professionals, allowing other companies to concentrate on their core business.

This article presents the profession of common carrier, which provides services for third parties, and does not deal with private transport. It focuses on freight transport, even if some transport operators are mixed (historic railroad companies), or even combine passengers and freight in the same vehicles (air transport).

This article also deals with transport and logistics players who do not physically move goods, but carry out a series of formalities and technical, commercial, legal or administrative operations that are intrinsically linked to the transport service. It therefore focuses in particular on intermediaries and transport organizers.

Logistics service providers are discussed here primarily in terms of their role in designing and managing flows, with static logistics players (warehouses and distribution centers) covered in another chapter.

Finally, in addition to these players, there are handling operators (at the interface of statistical and kinetic operations), transport auxiliaries, responsible in particular for the safe operation and maintenance of transport infrastructures (SNCF Réseau, VNF, freeway companies, port authorities, etc.), public authorities (who set the administrative, regulatory and political framework), as well as various suppliers and service providers (energy supply, insurance, banks, etc.), who are not covered here.

The transport and intermediation professions require specialized know-how and skills, and their exercise is often subject...