Promoting intermodal transportation – ReVeLa

Import and export-oriented companies in industry and trade with locations away from conurbations with good transport links and high capacity utilization make particularly intensive use of road as a mode of transport. Combined transport (CT) offers a more environmentally friendly alternative to pure road transport. However, a large number of different players with sometimes diverging interests are required to design and organize a functioning CT: shippers/unloaders, shipping companies, port operators, terminal operators, freight forwarders, trucking companies and CT operators. This multitude of stakeholders makes the coordination of CT transports a demanding task due to the fragmented service and information chain. A particular challenge lies in the synchronization of available capacity on certain CT routes and the transport demand of the local market.

The aim of the research project »Development and evaluation of a regional loading platform for the use of CT terminals in peripheral locations of metropolitan regions (ReVeLa)« was to develop a concept for the promotion of intermodal transports in decentralized regions using the example of the Schweinfurt region. The aim is to increase the rail share of containerized transports. The complex service provider structures in CT currently make it difficult to coordinate the players involved and thus to control the processes based on the division of labor. In order to examine this situation in detail and to improve it in the case of the example region of Schweinfurt, a region-specific examination and economic evaluation of the existing transport alternatives is being carried out in the project. By means of a structured interview research, the current conditions in the world of CT together with problems, obstacles and wishes of different actors, especially with regard to the exchange and provision of relevant information, were inquired and mapped. Based on this, a concept for the implementation of a web-based information and exchange platform was developed. The implementation and establishment of such a platform in CT increases the transparency regarding the capacity utilization of the individual shippers and contributes to a simplified communication of all involved actors. The concrete benefit results from:

• A facilitation of the bundling of traffic from several shippers according to time and demand

• Improved customer access, minimizing the risks of long-term operations for terminals

• Cost savings for shippers through direct loading at regional terminals

• Overall cost savings across all players through reduced information gathering efforts

• Greater transparency of the transport process and opportunities for active management of container traffic

• Opening up new utilization and sales potential for terminals

• An improved environmental balance due to an overall higher rail share

•  A more efficient use of resources through better plannability