Exploring support infrastructure for freight transport operations

Paper in proceeding, 2013

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 the various activities. Improved electronic information sharing reduces the time needed for manually typing data into different systems when handling freight. The technical development that has been taking place over the recent years has created opportunities that can support exchange of information in the freight industry beyond what previously has been possible. Some of these developed technologies and methods enable increased efficiency and secure information quality. A holistic approach to combine physical assets with Information- and communication technology (ICT) solutions and systems in order to enable better logistics solutions is the foundation of the Smart Transportation Management (STM) concept. By combining the physical infrastructure (warehouse, terminals, etc.) with a digital infrastructure (ICT solutions), an Intelligent Infrastructure (II) is facilitated. The II could be defined as a support infrastructure, as the purpose is to support freight transport operations in various ways. This paper starts out by outlining a number of issues and challenges in freight transport operations that were combined and aggregated to create a point of departure for the work. The main purpose of the paper is to explore ICT-enhanced support infrastructures for freight transport operations in the context of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). The results show that the framework of STM will provide a mapping capability of the subject and an analysis model intended to identify and highlight where and how implementations of STM create valuable impacts on transport operations. These contributions are aimed at the transportation research area in logistics, with a focus on those that are researching information related issues and ITS. Physical and digital infrastructure provides support for transport operations through combining the individual functionality and provides the transport industry with new opportunities for improved operations. With such a ICS based freight ITS framework that support transport operations it is possible to improve operational excellence within the transportation industry, mainly the road based one.