Transport

Our international transport is carried out (prováděn) for example by the Cechofracht Shipping and International Forwarding (zasilatelská) Corporation. Cechofracht act as agents for foreign shipping companies and control Czech sea going vessels (všechny lodě). Mail going abroad may be sent by post, rail, road, air, river and canal, or sea.

Postal carrying (přeprava) is done by land, river, and air. Land transport makes use of railways or road vehicles. When sending goods by rail, the consigner (zasilatel) fills out a Consignment Note (nákladní list) which gives the description and the weight, the addresses, and the party (strany) paying for the carriage, and an International Consignment Note for international railway transport. In road transport, the document is called the Delivery (dodací) Note or Waybill. (průvodka).

River transport doesn’t have great importance (významný) for the Czech Republic, which is without direct access (přístup) to the sea. In modern times, an increasing (vzrůstá) amount (suma) of goods is travelling by air. Air cargo (náklad) falls into several groups: urgently required merchandise (medicines, spare parts (náhradní díly)), cargoes of a perishable nature (zkáze podléhající) (fruits, flowers, vegetables), and commodities having high value (hodnotu) (jewellery, furs (kožešiny), watches…). The document used in air transport is called Air Waybill.

The formalities connected with sea transport are much more complicated. The most important documents are the Bill of Lading (konosament) and the Charter Party (smlouva o pronájmu lodi). Sea transport is divided into two main classes: tramp shipping and liner services. (trampová a liniová). Tramp shipping is used mainly to carry such bulky (velká) cargoes as coal, ores (rudy), grain (obilí), timber (dřevo), etc. The advantage is that the tramp steamer (parník) can be at the port when the cargo is to be moved. Tramps have no fixed time of sailing (stanovený jízdní řád) and no fixed routes and the freight rates (dopravní sazby) are relatively low. (nízký) Liner companies provide (zajišťují) regular traffic between ports in different parts of the world for both passengers and cargo (osobní i nákladní). As a rule, liners are quicker than tramp steamers. They sail according to a fixed schedule, (řád) and have fixed routing and the rates are quoted according to fixed tariffs.