Why transport is essential for life

Simply put, cells must import and export materials in order to maintain life-sustaining activities. For example, without transport, there would be no diffusion of oxygen into an aerobically respiring cell and no diffusion of carbon dioxide out an aerobically respiring cell, which means that cells would not be able to bring in oxygen or expel waste. Nothing would be able to move out of a cell membrane, and as such, the cell would not survive. Without transport, the cell would never be able to exist in the first place.