Transit time Transit time is the time a shipment takes to move from its origin to its destination. It also includes the time spent for any loading, unloading and transshipment operations. It is a random variable influenced by weather and traffic conditions, freight loading and unloading procedures and so on. The coefficient of variation (standard deviation over average transit time, see Section 1.5.1) of the transit time is a common measure of the reliability of a transport service.
On the basis of several statistical investigations carried out on different transport services, the most reliable mode of transport is, in general, the pipeline, followed by air, train, road vehicle and ship.