Innosuisse – Cargo Space Sharing

Road freight transport is one of the main contributors to Swiss congestion costs (ARE, 2019). Fleet operators are increasingly adopting technologies such as transport management systems, telematics and shipment tracking to increase utilization. Since fleet operators can only marginally improve utilization, they need to focus on cross-company potential (fleet operator community). According to the BFS (2015), trucks are often empty (21%) or not fully loaded (55%). In addition, road freight transport in German-speaking countries is under high margin pressure (due to competitive pressure).

For reasons such as branding of vehicles, liability for damages, and driver sharing, fleet operators are not yet ready to introduce truck sharing. Subsequently, this research project highlights an important intermediate step to implement truck sharing - cargo space shipment sharing (CSSS).

As the efficiency potential within a single fleet operator has become more marginal, the focus on the community has become increasingly important. This is because creating transparency in the cross-company perspective, especially about cargo space availability / shipments, offers further efficiency potential. For example, the CSSS means fewer vehicle miles are driven for the same amount of shipments, and thus fewer trucks are needed.

The CSSS provides the ability to match transport orders and unused loading spaces and share them with other fleet operators within a community for a fee via a digital platform. This requires transparency about the store spaces and transports within the community. The fleet community is to be understood as a closed circle of contracted transport operators. The approach thus has innovation potential compared to existing concepts or solutions.

Duration: 2020-2022

Cargo24 AG, BDK Informatik AG, TRAVECO Transporte AG, Krummen Kerzers AG, Lagerhäuser Aarau AG, Hasler Transporte AG, Zibatra Logistik AG

Förderer

Innosuisse – Schweizerische Agentur für Innovationsförderung (öffentlich-rechtliche Anstalt des Bundes)