Mitigating Risk in Transportation Costs Finding ways to move goods from one point to another at a reasonable cost and within an acceptable time frame is a growing challenge for global companies today. The costs and risks associated with transportation are increasing with the advent of globalization and sourcing from low-cost countries. Even companies that operate exclusively locally must supply their products to various parts of the country, which increases costs and risks. As the cost of gasoline has been on an upward trend, a high level of efficiency in transportation is needed to reduce the costs involved and the risks associated with the costs. Cost concepts in transportation include economic, social and accounting costs. The associated risks and costs increase if different modes of transportation are used. There has been concern about the inability of many companies to think strategically when employing multimodal transportation services. Many companies prefer the least expensive multimodal model instead of choosing the most effective one; this trade-off is very costly with hidden costs and risks that increase significantly (Molenaar, Anderson, Schexnayder, National Research Council (USA)., National Cooperative Highway Research Program., American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials., & United States , 2010). Over the past two decades, the cost of transporting goods has decreased, which has helped improve productivity and economic growth. However, market forces operations and rising fuel costs, as well as environmental concerns, impact the cost of transporting goods from one place to another. As a result, the high costs of moving goods will have repercussions throughout the economy, influencing enter...... middle of paper ......ersten & Bemeleit, 2006). References: Bersani, C., & Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Advanced Technologies and Methodologies for Risk Management in the Global Transport of Dangerous Goods. (2008). Advanced technologies and methodologies for risk management in the global transport of dangerous goods. Amsterdam: IOS Press.Kersten, W., & Bemeleit, B. (2006). Managing risks in supply chains: How to build reliable collaboration in logistics. Berlin: Erich Schmidt.Molenaar, KR, Anderson, SD, Schexnayder, CJ, National Research Council (USA)., National Cooperative Highway Research Program., American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials., and United States . (2010). Guidance on risk analysis tools and management practices to control transportation project costs. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Council.