SHARE THE
LOAD
IN EUROPE, A PROJECT SET UP TO SHARE LOADS IN TRUCK TRAILERS FROM DIFFERENT SHIPPERS HAS PROVEN TO BE QUITE SUCCESSFUL. SHIPPERS EXPECTED A 10 PER CENT INCREASE IN TRAILER PRODUCTIVITY, BUT THE RESULTS TURNED OUT TO BE MUCH BETTER. [ Story by Tim de Jong ]
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exTrust is an EU-funded project that brought together 31 partners to promote collaboration within the logistics industry. NexTrust’s objective is to increase efficiency and sustainability in logistics by developing interconnected, trusted collaborative networks along the entire supply chain. Projects that had shippers collaborating lead to a sometimes-stunning reduction in cost and carbon dioxide emissions – even for companies working with fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). The initiative to start and fund such a project stems from the fact that 21 per cent, just over a fifth, of all trucks on the road in Europe, are empty, while the load factor of trucks transporting cargo averages a mere 43 per cent. Taking into account the growing number of traffic jams in Europe, the pan-European shortage of truck drivers and, on average, low returns, the European road transport sector still enjoys an impressive three-quarter market share of the total transport market. Consulting partners within the NexTrust project calculated that the number of trucks on European roads is actually growing, but the transported volume isn’t. The average age of the European truck driver is 50, and the number of fresh-faced youngsters eager to become international truck drivers is small.
Service centre pooling provider.
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Huckepack trailers
Even with a dominating market share of 75 per cent, consultants in NexTrust think that productivity in road transport would increase already by simply using more trailers that are suited to both rail and road transport. Only 18 per cent of the European trailer park is suitable for both rail and road transport. Should this percentage increase dramatically, European road transport would be much more efficient, according to the initiators of NexTrust. To achieve this, more equipment and space would be needed on terminals where freight is transferred from road to rail and vice versa. Industry engagement
More cooperation is key to address the driver shortages, which the NexTrust parties agree is the major cause of insufficient capacity at present. An untold number of trucks is said to be standing idle in Germany for lack of qualified drivers. That makes this the moment to test whether shippers can combine their loads in the trucks that are still moving. This would increase productivity. The German consultants at GS1 investigated the shippers’ willingness to consolidate loads with other shippers in the same branch or in other branches. According to GS1, shippers underestimated the benefits. These were expected to be in the region of around fifteen percent. However, when shippers really started to cooperate intensively to load trucks as efficiently as possible, benefits shot up to as much as 45 per cent. According to GS1, 90 per cent of those involved appeared willing
