The freight technology sector, also known as FreightTech, refers to

software companies The software industry includes businesses for development, maintenance and publication of software that are using different business models, mainly either "license/maintenance based" (on-premises) or "Cloud based" (such as SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, M ...

and technologies which assist in

supply chain management In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and services including all processes that transform raw materials into final products between businesses and locations. This can include the movement and sto ...

and the movement of

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

. In the five years following 2014, investment in FreightTech companies grew from $118 million to $3 billion per year.

Disruption of traditional logistics and supply chain management

The

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ex ...

and

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

industry has long been viewed as conservative and slow-to-change, in part due to complex relationships within global shipping and transportation networks, difficult documentation and customs requirements, lack of transparency among involved parties, and obstacles to adapting quickly to sudden economic changes. Recent developments in freight technology are working to modernize and simplify freight transport. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Transportation, intelligent freight technologies have multifaceted benefits in shipping and logistics. These include increased operational flexibility and efficiency due to better planning and schedule adherence, better utilization of people and equipment, reduction of non-productive waiting times, shorter processing times, and increased shipper confidence. Transactional application programming interfaces (API) and distributed ledger technology are expanding in the shipping and logistics sector to reduce extensive paperwork, monitor conditions and location of freight and goods in transport and make this information available to involved parties, and increase transparency across the

supply chain In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, activ ...

Truck freight

The first steps to

digitization DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer- ...

trucking Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations e ...

came in the form of digital

freight exchange A freight exchange or load board is an online service for haulage companies, logistics providers, freight forwarders, transport companies and (in some cases) private customers. It allows haulage companies to search a database of available freight ...

s such as Teleroute and

TIMOCOM TIMOCOM GmbH with head office in Erkrath is a German IT and freight technology company. TIMOCOM is the operator of Europe’s first Smart Logistics System. It was founded in 1997 and sees itself as IT service provider for all companies involved i ...

. Greater efficiency in trucking is being achieved through intelligent freight technology such as automated

interfaces Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * ''Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Inte ...

that can help truckers and regulatory bodies reduce stops at

weigh station A weigh station is a checkpoint along a highway to inspect vehicular weights and safety compliance criteria. Usually, trucks and commercial vehicles are subject to the inspection. Weigh stations are equipped with truck scales, some of which ar ...

s and time spent at

border checkpoint A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders oft ...

s. This improves schedule adherence, reduces administrative burdens, and increases fuel efficiency by minimizing time spent idling. Mobile tracking programs can also reduce theft and loss of cargo by recording instances where trailer doors are opened outside of approved areas (

geo-fence A geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. A geofence could be dynamically generated (as in a radius around a point location) or match a predefined set of boundaries (such as school zones or neighborhood boundaries). Th ...

s) and alerting authorities. Growing automation of quoting and booking of truckload shipments and increased automation of matching trucks with appropriate loads in a timely manner is also working to maximize efficiency for shippers and consumers.

Vehicle tracking A vehicle tracking system combines the use of automatic vehicle location in individual vehicles with software that collects these fleet data for a comprehensive picture of vehicle locations. Modern vehicle tracking systems commonly use GPS or ...

has been used by shipping agents and freight forwarders to monitor the location of vehicles. They can also monitor traffic information, vehicle and driver data, and other real-time freight information. Due to the relatively short life cycle of three to four years for commercial trucks, implementation of new interfaces and freight technologies has progressed more quickly in trucking than in other sectors. Compared with other modes of transport such as aviation and rail, however, driverless technologies for road transport have lagged behind due to road environments being more complex than separated spaces for rail and air transport.

Air freight

Freight technology in

air cargo Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail. Aircraft types Different cargo can be transported by passenger, cargo or combi aircraft: * Passenger aircraft use the ...

is already critically important in cold chain management for sensitive goods such as agricultural products, vaccines, and medications. Monitoring in the form of

data logger A data logger (also datalogger or data recorder) is an electronic device that records data over time or about location either with a built-in instrument or sensor or via external instruments and sensors. Increasingly, but not entirely, they a ...

s can record temperature, light, humidity, and GPS location to show whether goods have been improperly cooled, handled, or tampered with. It is estimated that billions of dollars in revenue are lost by cargo companies annually due to dispute resolution for shipment delays and lost and damaged goods. The world’s first blockchain-based system for streamlining air cargo

costing Cost accounting is defined as "a systematic set of procedures for recording and reporting measurements of the cost of manufacturing goods and performing services in the aggregate and in detail. It includes methods for recognizing, classifying, al ...

, billing, and

reconciliation Reconciliation or reconcile may refer to: Accounting * Reconciliation (accounting) Arts, entertainment, and media Sculpture * ''Reconciliation'' (Josefina de Vasconcellos sculpture), a sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos in Coventry Cathedr ...

was announced at the 2019 IATA World Cargo Symposium.

Rail freight

The Freight Technology Group, responsible for identifying relevant technologies for the freight sector in the UK, has identified three key technical innovations already in use in

rail freight Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

. These include

timetable A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are i ...

advisory systems which allow drivers to track train progress against timetables via software hosted on tablets, freight collaborative decision-making systems which offer real-time information on arrivals of freight services, and mobile consisting applications which reduce the amount of information sent manually to relevant parties and authorities by collecting information and transmitting it directly. However, advancements in rail freight technology have progressed more slowly than in other sectors due to the decades-long life cycles of locomotives and

railcars A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

and the lack of power supply in

freight cars A railroad car, railcar ( American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is ...

. A $10 billion upgrade to the North American rail system was mandated by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

to include automated safety overrides after a 2008 commuter train accident, laying the groundwork for autonomous rails in the United States. In 2019, mining group

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

launched the world’s first autonomous heavy-haul freight railway trains in Western Australia to deliver ore from mines to ports.

Sea freight

The growing number of

smart port A smart port equips the workforce with relevant skills and technology to solve the unique internal and external challenges of the organisation, and to facilitate the efficient movement of goods, delivery of services and smooth flow of information. ...

s around the world are increasing capacity and efficiency for shippers, ports, and

freight forwarding A freight forwarder, or forwarding agent, is a person or company who, for a fee organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer or producer to a market, customer or final point of distribution.

partners, such as trucking carriers. Reductions in labour and machinery costs can be seen at ports thanks to improvements in automated and semi-automated

cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname), ...

, which reduce the need for yard transfer vehicles. In 2018, shipping conglomerate

Maersk (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line ...

partnered with IBM to create TradeLens, a platform for sharing and streamlining shipping information across shipping partners, businesses, and different authorities. By 2019, the platform covered nearly half of the world’s shipments of cargo containers.

Intermodal freight

Freight that is shipped using multiple modes of transport is called

intermodal freight Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation (e.g., rail, ship, aircraft, and truck), without any handling of the freight itself when changing ...

. Freight technology plays a pivotal role in intermodal freight transport by streamlining communication, documentation, and dispute resolution across various industry players as cargo changes hands. Freight technology offers a way to increase transparency across industry players at each step of the supply chain.

Smart contract A smart contract is a computer program or a transaction protocol that is intended to automatically execute, control or document events and actions according to the terms of a contract or an agreement. The objectives of smart contracts are the re ...

s, for example, can use information collected by data loggers, such as temperature data on cold chain shipments, to resolve or dispute a contract depending on whether the agreed upon terms of shipping have been followed.

References

{{reflist Freight transport Shipping Maritime transport Supply chain management Internet of things Logistics