THE GEOGRAPHY OF TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
| Products | Items / 40 Foot Container | Retail Value (USD) | Freight / Value (%) | |||
| Low | High | Low | High | Low | High | |
| Clothing (low value) | 90,000 | 130,000 | 225,000 | 520,000 | 0.56 | 1.91 |
| Clothing (mid range) | 25,000 | 60,000 | 500,000 | 3,600,000 | 0.08 | 0.86 |
| Sports shoes | 18,000 | 28,000 | 350,000 | 2,520,000 | 0.12 | 0.23 |
| Bicycles | 1,200 | 1,600 | 240,000 | 480,000 | 0.60 | 1.79 |
| Toys (low quality) | 20,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 720,000 | 0.40 | 7.17 |
| Consumer electronics (small) | 2,800 | 3,600 | 170,000 | 430,000 | 0.67 | 2.53 |
| Consumer electronics (large) | 240 | 480 | 70,000 | 140,000 | 2.07 | 6.14 |
| Appliances (small) | 600 | 1,200 | 45,000 | 100,000 | 2.90 | 9.56 |
| Appliances (large) | 100 | 130 | 30,000 | 65,000 | 4.16 | 14.33 |
| Furniture (assembled) | 250 | 600 | 20,000 | 150,000 | 1.93 | 21.50 |
| Furniture (flat packed) | 1,000 | 3,000 | 70,000 | 360,000 | 0.80 | 6.14 |
| Automobile parts | 600 | 15,000 | 50,000 | 375,000 | 0.77 | 8.60 |
Source: OECD (2005) DSTI/DOT/MTC(2005)5/REV1
The cost relations between the cargo and the value of the cargo helps explain the level of globalization of an industry. For the shoe and apparel industry, container transport costs have a very low share of the cargo value (often less than 1%). Since it is at a same time a labor intensive activity, it is not surprising that it is also one of the most globalized. On the other end, appliances and furniture are more bulky with container transport costs reaching up to 20% of the cargo value. They thus tend to be manufactured closer to places of consumption. The exception is flat packed furniture (e.g. Ikea) that is more prone to be off shored because of better packing density.