Exploring Support Infrastructures for Freight Transport Operations

Licentiate thesis, 2011

Previous publications on freight transport operations have outlined the need for increased effectiveness and better use of information in transport operations. A key to this is the availability and accessibility of information to improve management of transport operations. Improved electronic information sharing reduces the time needed for manually typing data into systems when handling freight. The technical development which has been taking place over the recent years has created technologies that can support exchange of information in freight transportation. Some of these developed technologies and methods enable increased efficiency and secure information quality. Information- and communication technology (ICT) is a common denominator for this. A holistic approach to combining physical assets with ICT solutions and systems in order to enable better logistics solutions is Smart Transportation Management (STM). By combining the physical infrastructure (warehouse, terminals etc) with a digital infrastructure (information systems and technology), an Intelligent Infrastructure is created. The Intelligent Infrastructure could be defined as a support infrastructure, as the purpose it fills is supporting freight transport operations in various ways. All infrastructure components that either actively or passively support the transportation system are considered support infrastructure in the context of this thesis. This thesis started out by outlining a number of issues and challenges in freight transport operations. These were combined and aggregated to create a point of departure, and a purpose. The purpose of the thesis was to explore ICT-enhanced support infrastructures for freight transport operations, in the context of Intelligent Transport Systems. The purpose was broken down and divided into four different focus areas: 1) Infrastructure interactions; 2) Decentralization and decision making; 3) Infrastructure functions; and 4) Requirements and effects. The thesis outlines a number of different contributions related to these four focus areas, such as: * Enabled capabilities of Intelligent Cargo interactions with Intelligent Infrastructure * Feasibility of Intelligent concept as enabler for sustainable transportation through resource efficiency and improved decision making * Identified functionality of Intelligent Infrastructure in a STM context and potential effects of investments in technology related to freight, vehicles and infrastructure in transport operations * Identified requirements necessary for moving towards future enhanced transport scenarios and effects created