Optimizing multimodal frieght transport for environmental, societal, and business aspects

The FOR-FREIGHT project aims to maximise the utilisation of multimodal freight transport capacity and reduce the average cost of freight transport through the development of novel solutions and their integration with legacy logistics systems. This will enable more effective and sustainable management of goods and freight flows in airports, ports, inland terminals and various logistics nodes, taking into account the requirements of all involved stakeholders, and accounting for economic, environmental and social aspects. Through the FOR-FREIGHT solutions the following functionalities will be delivered:

• Real-time, door-to-door tracking across stakeholders’ domains and management systems (elimination of information silos) with global geolocation and status monitoring & control of Intermodal Transport Units (ITUs).
• Decision Support Systems (DSS) for the optimization of resource utilization (labour, vehicles, equipment) using advanced AI/ML techniques and Digital Twin concepts.
• Increased resilience of the multimodal logistics chain against large scale disruptive events (e.g., pandemic), based on proactive planning, heterogeneous data analytics, etc. and increased security of information exchange based on Blockchain technology.
• Increased sector sustainability through the adoption of a carbon footprint assessment framework and the
  utilization of public transport networks (e.g., subway) leading to reduced GHG emissions

To achieve these ambitious goals, the FOR-FREIGHT project engages world-leading T&L stakeholders specializing in different modes of transportation, such as port and airport authorities, terminal operators, airfreights handlers, train operators and major transport/shipping operators and brings them together with leading SW and technology developers, research organizations and innovative SMEs. This collaboration will drive the deployment of three state-of-the-art multimodal trial facilities, to enable real life trials in operational environments covering heterogeneous multimodal scenarios, namely, seaport to logistics hub and last mile delivery, seaport to airport (airfreight) and river-port to rail cargo. A cloud-based experimentation platform will be offered by FOR-FREIGHT, integrating access to the three trial sites, and offering advanced monitoring and experimentation tools.

ZSI is responsible for:

• socio-economic and environmental impact generation and maximisation of the FOR-FREIGHT platform by guaranteeing use cases address real world needs;
• facilitating Training and Clustering activities across diverse stakeholder groups; and
• evaluating and validating the FOR-FREIGHT online platform which will be offered as a service, from a social and environmental perspective.

Team:

• Stefanie Schuerz, MA
• Utku B. Demir, BA
• DI Dietmar Lampert
• Tess Landon, MSc

Section: Research Policy & Development

Partners:

• Allbesmart LDA
• ASOCIATIA TEHNOPOL - GALATI
• ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT S.A.
• BEIA Consult International
• COSCO Shipping
• Romanian River Shipping Company
• The Centre for Research & Technology - Hellas
• TIC4.0 - Terminal Industry Committee

Tags: transport