The volume of freight transported by road over the past decade has increased considerably, and the CO2 emissions resulting from this increase have caused significant impacts on the environment. The problem of pollution from transport routes would seem natural and unsolvable; yet the situation can and must change.
The main pollution-related issue in road freight transport lies in the numerous empty routes made by trucks on European roads every day, a natural consequence of the changing and asymmetrical demands of the carriers' regular customers.
Failure to optimize transport planning affects not only the environment, but also the financial situation of every carrier.
The alarming statistic that nearly one in four trucks is on the road without any goods in them has to be taken into account. To give a practical example: if a truck belonging to a haulage company operating mainly in Lombardy delivers goods from Milan to a storage or exchange point in Rome, it is forced to reach the next loading point without goods, and the quotations for transport requirements include the empty kilometers it takes to get from one point to the next. As you can easily guess, such trips involving trucks with no goods inside cost time, fuel, and above all money.
One possible solution to this situation would be to schedule a delivery on the return route, perhaps under commission from another reliable company from which to load within a few kilometres. In this way, the costs of the trip would be allocated to two different transport requests and the cost for both customers would decrease considerably. In short, a win-win for all stakeholders involved, including the environment.
The key to achieving route optimization is the use of a platform that is capable of presenting scenarios such as the one just described.
BRIDGE is the right intermediary to combine multiple transport orders into one route. The greater the number of couriers and customers affiliated to a logistics company such as BRIDGE, the greater the chances of optimizing orders and routes, making road freight transport more economically and ecologically efficient.
Not only does this digitization of processes prevent empty runs and unnecessary CO2 emissions, but all ancillary processes are automatically simplified, saving time, money and the environment.
It is also important to consider how digital live tracking enables short-term route changes and optimal transport control; Furthermore, through the use of the data generated within the BRIDGE platform, optimal route planning is guaranteed, as well as the preparation of the best routes to suggest to carriers and the indication of the most suitable transport requests to the carrier based on the carrier's action history on the platform.
Through the vast amount of data produced by the platform's users, BRIDGE can implement innovative Machine Learning and mathematical optimization techniques, ensuring that small and medium-sized companies can make informed decisions based on data analysis and algorithms that they would not otherwise be able to develop.
BRIDGE has set itself the goal of developing an innovative mathematical optimization algorithm by the end of the year, accessible to carriers on the platform, that can automatically optimize fleet routes minimizing empty mileage, maximizing profit and automating the work of carriers and logistics operators as much as possible, giving them the ability to focus on more interesting, less stressful and more value-added tasks.
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