Railway transport

Each cargo awaiting transport - regardless of its form of transport, should have a strictly defined marking that facilitates its international identification. This is an important process, because thanks to it you can be sure that every carrier or other entity involved in the transport chain will know how to handle a given load and thus be able to ensure its safe delivery. So what should you pay attention to and how to correctly label the goods?

Marking goods as a guarantee of safe delivery

As mentioned earlier, there are several reasons for marking each product - first of all, it is easier identification, which speeds up the transport process during the stages related to the identification of the cargo. The second aspect is the correct handling of a given product when it travels directly from the manufacturer to delivery to the customer. The use of specific information allows you to protect the goods against possible damage, as well as to properly store it during reloading, transport and storage.

So what information are we talking about? Each product should have data on the weight of the cargo, its resistance to external factors - including, for example, ambient temperature or humidity. In addition, it should be assigned a batch number and guidelines related to maintaining appropriate safety standards during transport processes. In this way, people responsible for the transport of loads will know how to properly handle the load such as food, electronics, clothing, as well as the rest of the products on the way to the customer.

How to interpret the marks on goods and how to use them?

In the transport industry, several groups of signs are used, which are assigned to selected categories of goods - this is how information signs are distinguished. It is in these types of signs that information related to the weight of the load and the serial number are contained. Essential signs - they are used to identify the recipient of the goods and the type of product that is inside the packaging adapted to transport purposes. Another type of signs are symbols related to the safe transport of a given load - such products are, for example, pyrotechnics. The information contained in the danger signs includes instructions related to the proper treatment of the goods and their categorization. One of the last groups of signs are manipulative signs that relate strictly to information related to the transport of selected products - including storage and handling methods.

Depending on the protection of the goods against damage, several types of marking are distinguished, which facilitate product identification - in this way, it is common to burn signs, use stamps, print information labels or paint symbols with industrial paints. It should be remembered that the most important feature of signs is the easy ability to identify and read the symbols contained - in this case, durability and resistance to weather conditions, as well as mechanical damage as a result of transport processes, also count. 

In practice, the pictograms on the goods have the following symbols:

  • glasses that inform about the need to exercise particular care during the transport of cargo
  • umbrellas - in this case, the information presented is intended to draw attention to the protection of the goods against moisture
  • up arrow that prohibits tipping the load
  • a trolley, which allows the goods to be transported by transport machines - such as goods lifts, forklifts and transporters.

In order to hierarchize the signs and popularize them, special institutions were created whose task is to regulate the regulations related to the labeling of products. For this purpose, the ISO, COBRO and EPKF organizations were established. Undoubtedly, the use of information signs contributed to the development of the global transport industry - thanks to the widespread use of information on cargo, the safety and quality of transport have improved.