Skip to main content

EGNOS for freight tracking and tracing

Tracking and tracing devices have been universally adopted in ITS for freight transport and logistics. In addition, through its policies and research initiatives, the European Union is stimulating technological innovation in the use of advanced satellite-based technologies to support smart mobility, higher efficiency and security of freight transport in the logistics chain
February 10, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
%$Linker: 2 Internal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 9782 0 oLinkInternal <span class="oLinkInternal"><span class="oLinkInternal">RSS</span></span> Events (Diary) false /rss/events/ true false%>

Tracking and tracing devices have been universally adopted in ITS for freight transport and logistics. In addition, through its policies and research initiatives, the European Union is stimulating technological innovation in the use of advanced satellite-based technologies to support smart mobility, higher efficiency and security of freight transport in the logistics chain.  Some of these initiatives specifically pursue the use of the positioning services provided by the European satellite navigation systems EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) and Galileo.

Italian company 6711 Telespazio, a Finmeccanica-Thales company, has developed a solution to provide tracking and tracing services utilising EGNOS. The solution has been extensively proved within the framework of the European CONTAIN project in demonstrations in Europe in cooperation with Interporto Bologna and also in Jordan in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport of Jordan and Jordanian Customs within the framework of the European MEDUSA project.

Both demonstrations validated the added value of EGNOS for providing robust and reliable traceability of freight traffic. In particular, the use of EGNOS is said to enhance the security of the transport of goods and enable the establishment of liability schemes among the various stakeholders, supporting the implementation of smart mobility and European policies for logistics, such as e-freight and green lanes.

The recent European CORE project capitalises on these results to develop a real business case for the intermodal transport of dangerous material like chemicals across European corridors, turning the proofs of concept developed within CONTAIN and MEDUSA into best practices based on EGNOS and in the perspective of Galileo.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS Summit 2016, Brisbane: Connected Autonomy in Smart Cities
    March 23, 2016
    Hosted by ITS Australia in partnership with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, the ITS Summit on Connected Autonomy in Smart Cities takes place on 23-24 May at the Queensland University of Technology. The growing international focus on smart cities where transport, utilities and healthcare communicate with each other to allow coordination and reduce waste, is a key driver for the provision of intelligent infrastructure across the road network. Such initiatives are being actively pursu
  • US DOT announces ITS video challenge
    May 21, 2012
    The US Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) has announced the ITS Video Challenge, a new national competition showcasing innovative ways that local communities use smart transportation technology to improve safety, mobility and the environment.
  • Retroreflectometer measures road markings at traffic speed
    March 3, 2014
    Delta, a globally leading supplier of retroreflectometers for road markings and traffic signs, will use Intertraffic Amsterdam 2014 to highlight its most recent development - the LTL-M system, a state-of-the-art retroreflectometer for measuring retroreflection of road markings at traffic speed. The system is based on patented technology making use of a digital camera and real time digital image processing. A main advantage of the LTL-M is its ability to measure accurately under all driving conditions an
  • AIT intelligent detection system
    October 29, 2014
    Austria’s largest non-university research institute, Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), together with industry partner and rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation, has developed a solution aimed at reducing the risk of rail vehicle collisions. They claim that in the future, trams will be able to detect obstacles and correctly assess their potential danger. A specially developed optical 3D sensor system for light rail vehicles such as trams will make them proactive, intelligent an