Freight Handling the Smarter Way

Purpose of this paper – The purpose of this paper is to outline opportunities for effective decentralized decision-making in freight transport operations and show how the concept of Smart Freight can enable such decentralized decision-making and create control functions. Design/methodology/approach – A literature study and a case study were carried out in order to gather the information needed for the specification. The case study covers the operations at a central distribution terminal and the connected consolidation/distribution terminals.Findings – The main finding of the paper is an outline of the transport processes that shows how it can be improved by decentralizing decision-making. It also outlines the capabilities of Smart Freight and how it can enable control and decentralized decision-making in transportation.Practical implications – The practical implications are outlining the areas of future improvement in freight transport operations. This can serve as an initial guideline for investments and initiatives to improve transportation.