Freight charges - Kamotsuunchin

...There is no theoretical basis for the legal discount limit, and a reasonable discount rate from a cost perspective is thought to be around 40%. Regarding freight fares, the system that had been adopted since the founding of the railways, which set differentials in applicable fares based on the freight-paying capacity of the freight, i.e., the price of the freight, was abolished in 1980 and a fundamental reform of the fare system was carried out because it was uniform and rigid and did not correspond to the reality of competition. With the unification of classes, a fare system was established that reflected the differences in transportation costs depending on the transportation mode, such as train unit, several cars unit, station unit, and departure/arrival at a base station, and fares became cheaper for large-volume and standardized transportation, which promoted the efficiency of railway transportation and cost reduction in the fare system as well. ...

*Some of the terms mentioned in "freight rates" are explained below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…法定の割引限度額には理論的根拠がなく，コスト面から妥当な割引率は40％程度とみられる。貨物運賃については，鉄道創業以来採られてきた貨物の運賃負担力，すなわち貨物の価格に基づき適用運賃に格差を設けてきた制度は画一的かつ硬直的で競争実態にそぐわないため，80年に廃止され，運賃制度の抜本的改革が行われた。等級の一本化により，列車単位，数車単位，駅単位，拠点駅発着等による輸送態様別の運送コストの相違を反映した運賃体系が設けられ，大量，定型輸送に応じて運賃は割安となるため，鉄道輸送の効率化と原価低減が運賃制度面でも促された。…

※「貨物運賃」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報