Collaborative digital solutions to optimise transport management

On Thursday, March 14, the 23rd National Transport Forum of AECOC, the association of manufacturers and distributors, was held, where the main keys to optimize the management of road freight transport were highlighted: digitalization, sustainability and collaboration.

During the meeting, the main challenges facing the sector in the short, medium and long term were highlighted and the importance of close and organized cooperation between shippers and transport companies to overcome them was underlined.

Specifically, the challenges mentioned were:

• The final approval of the Sustainable Mobility Law and, consequently, the entry into force of the mandatory eCMR and the harmonized calculation of CO2 emissions.
• Decarbonization.
• Regulatory pressure on decarbonization.
• The promotion of intermodality.
• Approval of the modification of the masses and dimensions to activate the 44 tons.
• Digital transformation.
• Driver shortage.

All these challenges shape a new path for the transport sector, but also for logistics in general, since optimizing the management of road freight transport is key to the proper functioning of the supply chain.

How decarbonization affects transport management

If there is one concern to highlight in the road transport sector (and in all sectors in general), it is decarbonization.

Although the sector recognizes the importance of reducing CO2 emissions from its activity, it denounces the regulatory pressure imposed by Europe.

In particular, it denounces the deadlines set for compliance with regulations and warns that the competitiveness of transport companies is at risk because of this issue.

In this regard, the National Road Transport Committee (CNTC) assures that companies are working on environmental decarbonization, but stresses the importance of promoting social and economic sustainability at the same time.

Carmelo González, president of the CNTC, at the 23rd AECOC National Transport Forum.

Therefore, the sector points out that for a correct optimization of transport management, it is important that companies have regulatory security and the necessary tools and infrastructures to develop the decarbonization strategies set.

In addition, both carriers and shippers called on regulators to expand decarbonization technologies beyond electrification, a solution that is not yet viable due to the high cost of electric heavy-duty vehicles and the lack of charging infrastructures.

Implications of the Mobility Law for Transportation

The Sustainable Mobility Law, which is still in the parliamentary process, will mean a new scenario for transport companies and shippers.

The first implication of this regulation has to do with the harmonization of the calculation of greenhouse gases, which will allow companies to measure the environmental impact of their activity under clear and official criteria.

The second implication has to do with the mandatory use of the electronic consignment note or eCMR, a key element in transport management.

According to the original text, the electronic CMR was to be mandatory as of September 2024. However, following the delay in the approval of the Law, this date has been postponed, albeit in an unspecified manner, as confirmed by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility during the meeting.

Digitalization, the perfect ally to optimize transportation management

One of the main threads of the 23rd AECOC National Transport Forum was digitalization, a key tool for increasingly flexible supply chains.

Digital transformation is one of the great challenges facing the road freight transport sector and, moreover, it is transversal to the rest of the challenges mentioned above.

Ramón Valdivia, member of the IRU Presidential Executive Committee, at the 23rd AECOC National Transport Forum.

For example, one of the main problems in the road transport sector is congestion. By applying technological solutions in transportation management, routes and dock management can be optimized, reducing times and gaining efficiency, which alleviates bottlenecks.

In this sense, during the meeting, the importance of implementing collaborative transport management solutions that allow better traceability and visibility, which leads to the strengthening of supply chains, was highlighted.

Transportation management solutions help to obtain constant and real-time data of all kinds throughout the entire shipment process and with all the agents involved, which helps to know the carbon footprint, detects inefficient points, allows handling of documentation in digital format, etc. In this way, clear objectives and strategies can be established, thus boosting the competitiveness of the sector.

Analysis roundtable “Management Models: Making the Right Decision”. 23rd AECOC National Transport Forum.

With all this, digitization in transportation management is essential, as this activity is the most important element of the supply chain and a very important value for the development of society.

Collaboration to improve transportation and supply chain management

The third leg for optimizing transportation management is collaboration. As all the speakers at the National Transport Forum pointed out, the only way to improve the competitiveness of companies in the sector, and therefore of the entire logistics sector, is through cooperation between all the agents in the chain, especially between shippers and carriers.

Collaboration is key in implementing the 44 tons in a consistent and fair manner for both parties; it helps to establish strategies to enhance the reputation of the sector and thus solve the driver shortage problem; and it is also key in the path of decarbonization and in boosting intermodality.

With everything analyzed, the main conclusion of this meeting is the importance of having collaborative digital solutions that help to optimize the management of transport, since this will solve many of the challenges that are presented to the road freight transport sector and all its users.

Supply Chain Visibility solution for transportation management

The entire team of FIELDEAS Track and Trace we were present one more year at the AECOC National Transport Forum to present our new commitment to the digital transformation of the sector and show the main advantages of implementing a supply chain visibility platform such as ours, the most advanced, flexible and secure on the market.

Our software allows real-time supervision of multimodal transport operations and provides traceability of shipments from origin to delivery at destination by monitoring key information.

In this way, we help our customers to control operations through a collaborative and hyper-connected logistics model to achieve efficient, resilient and transparent supply chains.

SameLess eCMR by FIELDEAS Track and Trace

During the meeting we also presented our SameLess eCMR, which provides a complete overview of the loading and unloading process with full legal guarantee.

It also streamlines logistical processes with electronic documentation; reducesadministrative management costs by up to 90% ; and facilitates information processing by digitizing information that was previously handled on paper.

In the same sense, it eliminates errors in the transmission of documentary information between the different actors in the chain; and provides greater transparency with customers by making all documentation available to whoever needs it without further intermediaries.

FIELDEAS Track and Trace eCMR also drives sustainability in transportation processes by proposing a paperless environment.