ITS UK: freight experts call for technology to support deliveries

Members of ITS (UK)’s Freight Interest Group have raised concerns that relying on autonomous vehicles and platooning to provide future solutions may be diverting attention away from current technology which could help in the short-to-medium-term, at the Industry 4.0 Summit in Manchester. The group suggested that logistics efficiency could be improved by better communication with light goods vehicle drivers. Additionally, signal timing technology could decrease the number of stops that Heavy Goods Vehicles
March 5, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

Members of ITS (UK)’s Freight Interest Group have raised concerns that relying on autonomous vehicles and platooning to provide future solutions may be diverting attention away from current technology which could help in the short-to-medium-term, at the Industry 4.0 Summit in Manchester.

The group suggested that logistics efficiency could be improved by better communication with light goods vehicle drivers. Additionally, signal timing technology could decrease the number of stops that Heavy Goods Vehicles make in towns and city centres to help reduce congestion and emissions, and that this technology has been successful with lorries transporting wings for Airbus planes moving to Bristol.

At the event, the forum heard how the production of some goods are finished and packaged locally in an added value logistics warehouse or fulfilment centre and then taken the last few miles for delivery. The new ways of working highlight the need for the logistics industry to utilise alternatives to deiseal lorries to comply with green city aspirations.

Geoff Clarke, hon secretary of the Freight Interest Group of %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external AECOM Aecom Website Link false http://www.aecom.com/ false false%>, said: “It was heartening to hear many interesting ideas for using technology to assist logistics in the future. Many of those solutions exist today in the passenger transport industry and could easily be used by and for freight companies as well. At the event where the way factories will operate in the future was showcased, it is clear that the freight industry will have to embrace more technology in order to keep up.”

Jennie Martin, ITS (UK) secretary general, added: “The Industry 4.0 Summit showed a lot about how the Internet of Things and blockchain will revolutionise manufacturing, and with logistics as a key part of the supply chain, there are many opportunities for the technology to play its part in the delivery of those goods as well. ITS (UK)'s range of expertise can help facilitate an understanding of these emerging solutions.

Related Content

  • October 22, 2014
    Riverdating – barge to business
    European cooperation between key players in the sector has developed inland navigation as a competitive transport mode. Waterway transport is an environmentally sustainable transport mode that also brings innovative solutions to the current logistics challenges. The next Riverdating event in Luxembourg on 19 and 20 November provides a forum for exchange and dialogue between stakeholders of demand and supply in waterway logistics and enables individual business meetings between companies looking for mult
    Read More
  • March 23, 2018
    Asecap: Road safety is a shared responsibility
    Road safety is a shared responsibility of roads, vehicles and users, according to a key message delivered at Asecap’s Annual Safety Conference, in Brussels. The event provided an opportunity for road stakeholders to discuss the main safety priorities of the new mobility package to be presented by the European Commission (EC) next May. Additionally, the conference found that modern toll roads are the safest roads in Europe. The European Parliament and the EC blessed the memorandum of understanding
    Read More
  • March 2, 2018
    TransportNet to host Urban logistics course in Antwerp
    TransportNet is launching an Urban Logistics Summer School in Antwerp aimed individuals managing, planning and studying the logistics in urban areas, from the 20-24 August. It also intends to make participants from various backgrounds exchange ideas and views. The course will cover the economic, technological, planning, policy-making, environmental and IT/ data issues. In addition, an optional assignment elaboration week will be held for participants interested innovation and sustainability in urban
    Read More
  • December 22, 2016
    European Transport Conference 2017 - call for papers
    The European Transport Conference (ETC), which takes place 4-6 October 2017 in Barcelona, is inviting abstracts for papers on: Resilience of cities - security, safety and the effects of weather; Equity in transport; Disruptive technologies; Mobility as a Service; How to get from innovative ideas to implementation in the real world - lessons to be learnt from innovation Contributors are particularly encouraged to offer abstracts under heading including: Modelling the above; Skills and resourc
    Read More

Highlighted Content