Membranous and nonmembranous cargoes are transported along axons in the fast and slow components of axonal transport, respectively. Recent observations on the movement of cytoskeletal polymers in axons suggest that slow axonal transport is generated by fast motors and that the slow rate is due to rapid movements interrupted by prolonged pauses. This supports a unified perspective for fast and slow axonal transport based on rapid movements of diverse cargo structures that differ in the proportion of the time that they spend moving. A Flash feature (http://www.jcb.org/cgi/content/full/jcb.200212017/DC1) accompanies this Mini-Review.