Imagine a relay race where the baton is a shipping container, but instead of people, robots and automated vehicles handle the hand-offs. This project figures out how to make different transport modes—like ships, trains, and trucks—talk to each other without human intervention. It's about removing the friction at the hubs where cargo switches from one vehicle to another.
Multimodal freight is currently slowed by manual hand-offs and fragmented regulations at transport hubs. This creates high operational costs, congestion, and environmental inefficiency.
A set of business and governance models, regulatory recommendations, and simulated master scenarios for end-to-end automated cargo delivery.
If you are a hub operator dealing with slow manual transfers between rail and road—this project developed governance models and operational requirements that reduce logistics costs and congestion.
If you are a port authority dealing with inefficient cargo flows—this project developed strategies for automated cargo flows that improve safety and decrease emissions.
If you are a rail manager dealing with high operational costs—this project developed simulations to investigate the benefits of operational automation versus current standard flows.
The project specifically aims to define strategies to reduce the investment cost required for implementing automated transport systems.
Based on available project data, the project uses simulations and use cases to investigate benefits, meaning it is currently in the strategy and simulation phase rather than full-scale deployment.
Based on available project data, specific licensing terms are not provided, but the project focuses on regulatory recommendations and business models for the intra-European network.
It identifies regulatory gaps in automated transport technologies and provides recommendations to enable interoperability between different modes and hubs.
The project develops interoperability strategies and operational requirements to integrate automated solutions into existing multimodal cargo flows.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward commercial application, with a 53% industry ratio consisting of 10 industrial partners, including 8 SMEs. This strong industry presence, combined with 8 countries and 3 universities, suggests the project is designed to produce commercially viable business models rather than purely academic research.
Contact the Research Institute of Communication Systems and Computers (REC) in Greece.
Contact us to explore the automation strategies developed by the AUTOMOTIF consortium.
