FOR-FREIGHT project: Maximizing the utilization of multimodal freight transport, operational efficiency and achieving cost reductions through adoption of new technologies and concepts

The international transport and logistics (T&L) sector is vital to the EU’s economy, as highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic when its resilience and importance were tested due to disrupted supply chains and increased demand. As the world recovers, multimodal freight transport is expected to grow significantly. However, the sector faces major challenges, particularly in multimodal transport, due to fragmented operations among stakeholders, lack of unified management systems, poor interoperability, and limited real-time visibility of cargo. These issues lead to inefficiencies, higher costs, delivery delays, and increased environmental impact. Additionally, low digitalization and minimal use of advanced technologies hinder automation and productivity, further straining operational capacity.

The inefficiencies in multimodal and transshipment transport processes have not only economic consequences but also significant social and environmental impacts. As part of its sustainable development strategy, the EU is prioritizing a clean, safe, and efficient transport and logistics (T&L) sector to address future challenges such as oil scarcity, urban congestion, and climate change. By 2050, the EU aims to reduce transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by 90% compared to 1990 levels and decrease reliance on imported oil. To meet these goals, T&L stakeholders are increasingly adopting advanced technologies—including Artificial Intelligence AI/ Machine Learning ML, Big Data analytics, robotics, Augmented and Virtual reality AR/VR, Internet of Things IoT, and 5G technologies—to enhance efficiency, reliability, capacity, and sustainability.

The EC funded project FOR-FREIGHT (Flexible, multi-mOdal and Robust FREIGHt Transport) lasts for 40 months and aims to enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness of multimodal freight transport by developing and integrating innovative solutions with existing logistics systems. Key objectives include real-time tracking, AI-driven decision support, increased resilience to disruptions, improved data security using blockchain, and reduced environmental impact. The overall concept is shown in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: FOR-FREIGHT Overall Concept

The project will focus on five main areas:

1. Creation of trial sites with interoperable, multimodal logistics systems.
2. Integration via a cloud-based platform for access, monitoring, and evaluation.
3. Development of sustainable business models for multimodal collaboration.
4. Formation of a sector-wide logistics ecosystem involving stakeholders from transport and logistics (T&L).
5. Study, implementation and testing of innovative concepts like the Decision Support System (DSS) and the subway-based network as a sustainable alternative for last mile distribution and to tackle intermodal interface transport challenges.

The Unique Value Propositions of the project are:

▪ Structured mapping of the T&L problems to generalized intermodal problems solving processes. The rationale behind designing these generalized solving processes is to promote modularity and scalability, enabling the participation of additional stakeholders and the flexible modelling of new problem instances. This abstraction facilitates reusability across different logistics scenarios and supports seamless integration of diverse data sources and actors within the multimodal transport ecosystem.

▪ Easy integration of industrial legacy systems with the FOR-FREIGHT platform and access to its digital marketplace of solvers and services. This dual capability ensures that existing infrastructures can seamlessly adopt advanced functionalities without major overhauls, while also enabling stakeholders to browse, deploy, and compose tailored digital solutions that drive operational efficiency and foster innovation in multimodal logistics.

▪ Continuous monitoring and fact-driven impact assessment of the new processes and  digital solutions. This enables data-driven evaluation of performance, efficiency, and environmental gains, ensuring informed decisions for further optimisation and wider adoption.

▪ Participation to a digital ecosystem of intermodal actors supporting the implementation of ecosystem-driven processes, data and solutions standardisation. This collaborative framework fosters interoperability and trust across stakeholders, laying the foundation for harmonised multimodal logistics operations at scale.

▪ Mutual learning and continuous knowledge increase on effective and sustainable management of freight flows across various transportation hubs, such as airports, ports, inland terminals, and different logistics nodes. By integrating real-world insights and best practices, the initiative builds collective intelligence and improves coordination across the logistics chain.

The project aligns with industry standards and leverages outcomes from previous EU-funded initiatives to ensure technological maturity and seamless integration with existing systems. Ultimately, FOR-FREIGHT seeks to simplify multimodal freight transport into a seamless, visible, and efficient end-to-end experience.

The target remains to revolutionize multimodal freight logistics by creating and testing advanced solutions across three real-world logistics sites (port, airport, rail). Its core objectives are to maximize transport capacity utilization, increase efficiency and sustainability, and reduce transport costs by integrating novel technologies with existing logistics systems. The Use Cases are:

1. Spanish Use Case: Uses AI, Digital Twins, and real-time tracking to address inefficiencies in last-mile logistics by integrating data sources for better decision-making. Key tools include Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) prediction, CO2 tracking, and demand forecasting.
2. Greek Use Case: Aims to optimize logistics between the Piraeus seaport and Athen’s airport with predictive analytics, route optimization, and improved stakeholder communication.
3. Romanian Use Case: Focuses on integrating river ports with rail networks through real-time tracking, IoT, and AI analytics to improve communication, route efficiency, and maintenance.

The innovation of the project features a platform with a user-friendly interface for managing logistics and monitoring operations efficiently. It is supported by external components like a CI/CD system for automated development, a code repository for collaborative coding, and a workflow engine for managing complex business processes. The architecture of the platform is shown in Figure 2 below:

Figure 2: FOR-FREIGHT Architecture

Through its components and innovative concepts, the platform offers increased efficiency and reinforces decision making of T&L actors.

The Solver Marketplace is a feature offering the notion of Solvers, various optimisation algorithms for logistical challenges, allowing users to choose the solvers based on detailed performance data. It supports multimodal transportation services—such as Sea to Road, Road to Rail, and Road to Air—that coordinate freight transfers, optimize routing and scheduling, and improve efficiency while reducing costs.

• The FOR-FREIGHT Workflow Engine is a flexible and scalable system designed to automate and orchestrate complex logistics processes, by enabling an intuitive workflow creation through a drag-and-drop interface. The engine integrates seamlessly with various data sources—such as legacy systems, IoT sensors, and APIs—allowing real-time data processing for decision-making, task automation, and error handling. Its modular design supports scalability, security, and customization for diverse logistics needs. In practice, it adapts to specific use cases in Spain, Greece, and Romania to optimize transport, monitor cargo, and manage traffic using technologies like IoT and 5G. Overall, it enhances the agility, efficiency, and responsiveness of logistics operations. The module empowers users to combine individual or multiple solvers into creating their own solving processes, supporting flexible, multi-layered, tailor-made solutions for advanced solver process orchestration. It also enables the view consolidated data from multiple solver and solving process invocations through interactive dashboards and graphs, enabling users to identify trends, monitor performance, and make informed, data-driven prompt decisions.

The FOR-FREIGHT platform’s User Interface (UI) finally serves as the main access point for users to interact with the platform’s tools and capabilities. It provides a user-friendly, Wizard-driven experience that guides users through selecting transport modes and solving specific logistics problems. While the UI itself does not perform processing, it connects users with the platform’s backend systems, particularly the Workflow Engine, enabling them to launch and manage solvers and solving processes.  It also aggregates and displays real-time data from various sources through dashboards and interactive tools, helping users make informed decisions. With secure user authentication, the UI ensures data protection and role-based access, making it a central, intuitive hub for efficient and effective logistics management.

The European Union, through a series of actions and policies, has for a long time set as a priority the increase in productivity, the reduction of costs and the reduction of the environmental footprint of the transport sector. There is a growing demand for integrated, cost-effective, and adaptable technological solutions that can support a diverse network of stakeholders, including manufacturers, logistics providers, last-mile operators, and public authorities.

Links:

Website: Home – FOR FREIGHT

Linkedin: FOR-FREIGHT: Overview | LinkedIn

Youtube: FOR- FREIGHT – YouTube