| Course | MT434 Logistics and Distribution Management |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Freight mode comparison |
| Length | About 910 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT434 Unit 2
Parcel Looks Close Until Dimensional Weight: An MT434 Unit 2 Freight Mode Comparison for 36 Rowers
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT434: Logistics and Distribution Management
Unit 2 Freight Mode Comparison
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Petrie Rowing, the Atlanta order and every rate are composite, taken from one set of quotes; damage rates and carrying cost are stated assumptions, and the sources cited are real.
The Order
A composite fitness chain opening a studio in Atlanta ordered 36 Petrie rowers, to arrive within eight business days. Each rower ships in a carton of 86 by 23 by 14 inches weighing 68 pounds. The route is 2,480 miles.
Parcel
Parcel carriers bill large, light cartons by dimensional weight: length times width times height divided by a divisor, here 139. The carton's 27,692 cubic inches divided by 139 gives 199 pounds, nearly three times its actual weight, and the carrier bills on the greater of the two. The 199-pound rate to Atlanta is $131.40 a carton. A large-package surcharge of $48.25 applies because the carton exceeds the carrier's length limit, and fuel adds 17 percent to both. Each carton costs $210.19, and the order $7,566.86.
Leaving out dimensional weight would bill each carton near its actual weight and make parcel look like a close competitor. It is not.
Less-Than-Truckload
Stacked six to a pallet, the 36 rowers fill six pallets weighing 2,700 pounds with the pallets. At $38.40 per hundredweight, freight is $1,036.80. A 29 percent fuel surcharge adds $300.67, and a delivery appointment at the studio adds $35. The total is $1,372.47.
Truckload
A dedicated trailer from Spokane to Atlanta costs $3.12 a mile including fuel, $7,737.60. The six pallets use six of the trailer's twenty-six pallet positions, so most of the cost buys empty space.
Air
Air freight, door to door, is quoted at $8,175 for the six pallets.
Damage as a Cost
A mode that breaks more rowers is not cheap because its freight bill is low, and Stock and Lambert (2001) list loss and damage among the costs any mode decision should carry. Damage rates are estimated from Petrie's own claims history: about one carton in thirty for parcel, which handles each carton many times on sorting equipment, 0.8 percent for palletized less-than-truckload, 0.2 percent for a sealed truckload and 0.3 percent for air. Each damaged rower costs about $715, the written-off unit and its return trip from the Unit 1 case plus claim handling.
Expected damage is $858.00 for parcel, $205.92 for less-than-truckload, $51.48 for truckload and $77.22 for air.
Pipeline Carrying Cost
Inventory in transit ties up money. At a cost value of $640 a rower and a 25 percent annual carrying rate, each day in transit costs about 44 cents a rower. Transit is five business days for parcel, six for less-than-truckload with the appointment, four for truckload and two for air. Carrying cost is $78.90, $94.68, $63.12 and $31.56.
Totals
Adding damage and carrying cost beneath freight gives totals of $8,503.76 for parcel, $1,673.08 for less-than-truckload, $7,852.20 for truckload and $8,283.78 for air.
The mode that bills each carton by its weight in space, parcel, costs five times the mode that bills by the pound.
Less-than-truckload is cheapest by about $6,179 against truckload, the next mode. It arrives in six business days, inside the eight the order allows.
Why Parcel Is Priced This Way
Dimensional weight exists because parcel networks are limited by space as much as by weight. A sorting hub, a feeder trailer and a delivery van fill up with large, light cartons long before they reach their weight limits, so carriers charge for the space a carton takes. For Petrie, whose rower carton is long, narrow and light for its size, the rule nearly triples the billed weight. Trimming the carton, for example by shipping the rail separately or folding the frame, would reduce the billed weight and with it the gap between parcel and the other modes, which is worth testing for consumer orders even though it would not change the answer for an order of 36.
How the Comparison Was Built
Every mode was priced from the same set of quotes on the same day, with the same order, origin and destination, so the comparison holds the shipment constant and lets only the mode change. Fuel was applied as each carrier quotes it, as a percentage of its line-haul charge, rather than as one blended figure, because the surcharge rates differ by mode and a single figure would hide that.
When the Answer Would Change
If the studio needed the rowers within four days, truckload would be the cheapest mode that meets the deadline, at about $6,179 more. If the order were 150 rowers or more, filling most of a trailer, truckload would likely beat less-than-truckload on cost. Coyle et al. (2017) describe this as the basic trade-off in mode choice: speed and reliability against cost, with shipment size deciding where the lines cross. And if the order were two rowers to a house, parcel would be the only practical choice despite dimensional weight, which is why the Unit 4 network study treats consumer orders separately.
Recommendation
Book the Atlanta order as palletized less-than-truckload with the studio appointment, and require stacking six to a pallet with corner boards. Rushton et al. (2022) note that unitizing loads is one of the simplest ways to cut both handling cost and damage, and the comparison shows both effects here.
References
Coyle, J. J., Langley, C. J., Jr., Novack, R. A., & Gibson, B. J. (2017). Supply chain management: A logistics perspective (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Rushton, A., Croucher, P., & Baker, P. (2022). The handbook of logistics and distribution management (7th ed.). Kogan Page.
Stock, J. R., & Lambert, D. M. (2001). Strategic logistics management (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
The Purdue Global MT434 Unit 2 instructions
In MT434 Unit 2, one shipment is priced by every plausible mode and a single mode is recommended. Instructors expect each mode priced from its rate basis: parcel by dimensional or actual weight, whichever is greater, with surcharges and fuel; less-than-truckload by hundredweight with fuel and accessorials; truckload by the mile; air by its quote. Surcharges should be shown as separate lines rather than folded into one number. Damage should be treated as a cost, using a rate for each mode and the cost of a damaged unit. Carrying cost of stock in transit should be included, with a stated value and rate. The recommendation should meet the shipment's deadline and say when a different mode would win. An assumptions page and one comparison table are typical.
Inside the MT434 Unit 2 example
The example opens by describing the order and its eight-day window. Each mode then gets a section showing its rate basis and lines, starting with parcel, where dimensional weight is computed and explained. A section turns damage into a cost with rates by mode and the cost of one broken rower, citing Stock and Lambert. Pipeline carrying cost follows. The totals appear together, under a highlighted line on how each mode bills. A section explains why parcel carriers price by space and what a smaller carton could change, and another explains how the comparison holds the shipment constant. The paper names conditions under which truckload or parcel would win, with Coyle and colleagues, and recommends palletized less-than-truckload with Rushton and colleagues on unitizing.
Reading the MT434 Unit 2 grading rubric
Rate comparisons that skip dimensional weight are among the errors graders see most on this assignment, and here that omission would make parcel look like a close second rather than a distant fourth. Surcharges folded into a single number are harder to check and tend to be marked down when the case supplies a rate sheet. Rubrics look for damage treated as a cost, since a mode that breaks one rower in thirty is not cheap because its freight is low. Credit goes to including carrying cost with a stated basis. A recommendation that meets the deadline and names when another mode would win shows judgment. Rows that match line for line across the four modes, plus a dated page of assumptions, let graders audit each figure.
Common MT434 Unit 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
The most frequent weak comparison bills parcel by actual weight and finds it competitive. Another common error lists one all-in price per mode with no breakdown, so surcharges and fuel cannot be checked. Students often ignore damage, which reverses the ranking in some cases, and leave out carrying cost entirely. Many recommend the cheapest freight bill without checking the deadline. Some compare a truckload rate with a parcel rate for a shipment that fills a fraction of a trailer. Before submitting, compute the dimensional weight of your carton yourself and compare it with the actual weight. If the dimensional figure is higher and your parcel line does not use it, the comparison's most important number is wrong.
Get an MT434 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Paste in the shipment details, its delivery deadline and any rate table the Unit 2 case includes, plus the rubric. The comparison written back prices every mode your instructions name on a per-unit basis, with surcharges and damage on separate lines and ship-by dates stated. First custom sample free, turnaround 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT434 Unit 2 questions, answered
What is dimensional weight, and why does it matter here?
Parcel carriers bill a large, light box as if it weighed more, using its volume divided by a set divisor. A long carton like a rowing machine's can be billed at nearly three times its scale weight. Where your case gives carton dimensions, work out the billable weight before applying any rate, or parcel will look far cheaper than it is.
Does truckload include less-than-truckload in this assignment?
Prompts vary. Some use truckload to mean a full trailer, and others expect less-than-truckload as well because it suits mid-sized shipments. If your instructions are unclear, pricing both costs little and usually strengthens the paper, since the cheapest option for a few pallets is often neither parcel nor a full trailer. Say in a sentence why each mode was included.
How can transit reliability appear in the comparison?
One common approach converts each mode's average transit and its spread into a ship-by lead time, the number of days ahead a shipment must leave to arrive on time 95 times in 100. That turns reliability into a date a manager can act on. Name the assumption behind it, usually a normal distribution, and use your case's own figures wherever they exist.
Where can I find a free MT434 Unit 2 sample paper?
This page holds the complete MT434 Unit 2 comparison, pricing 36 rowing machines to Atlanta by parcel, less-than-truckload, truckload and air.
Why does parcel finish last in the MT434 Unit 2 sample?
Each 68-pound carton bills at a dimensional weight of 199 pounds, and parcel's damage rate adds about $858, so it lands near $8,504 against $1,673.