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L4LIFE viewpoint

This viewpoint presents the best practice solutions through the impact they have on the environmental, economic and social sustainability. A set of sustainability indicators are used to highlight this impact.

These data are collected in the following table, that lists the solutions and the corresponding value for every indicator. A "+" sign indicates a match with indicator for which no direct measure has been possible. A "-" sign indicates the solution has no effect in the area described by the indicator.

By clicking on a solution name, you will be redirected to its detailed sheet. Mouse-over an entry of the table to see a description of how every solution impacts on the corresponding indicator!

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Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: Reduction of manual activities through automated ones: the newly available time can be used to carry out other activities;+
Automation of processes: many processes are made automatically by Intelligent Cargo+
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Automation of processes: This solution provides V2I communication to on-road transporters, who can automatically be informed about relevant data related to traffic conditions and update the ETA accordingly.+
Improved information flow among stakeholders: This solution provides V2I communication to on-road transporters, who can automatically be informed about relevant data related to traffic conditions and update the ETA accordingly.+
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Development of infrastructural elements: The solution incurs an ICT infrastructure deployed across the target area for the benefit of road users+
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FEA

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Reduction of energy consumption: FEA provides feedback to the driver in relation to his on road-driving style and thus promotes a fuel-efficient driving style.+
Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: FEA provides feedback to the driver in relation to his on road-driving style and thus promotes a fuel-efficient driving style, which cuts down on the emissions.+
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Improvement of economic income: Less use of fuel, leads to a competitive advantage, which can increase the income+
Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: Less fuel consumption leads to a reduction of the costs, as well as less use of natural resources+
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Improved information flow among stakeholders: FEA is integrated with Dynafleet, an IS that provides in real time the current location of vehicles, their fuel consumption, messages, driver times, service intervals and much more.+
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Improvement of economic income: By monitoring the temperature and the shocks of the cargo, the transporter provides an added value service to the customer, which translates into the possibility of higher economic income.+
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Improved information flow among stakeholders: Real-time information about the goods (temperature, shocks) is available to the driver and freight manager and can be used for traffic management purposes. Information comes from sensors attached to on-goods equipment.+
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Promotion of green corridors and of modal shifts: Intelligent cargo is modal independent and thus enables modal shift+
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Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: Intelligent cargo self identification and context awareness allows less resources to be used and enable the faster processing of information+
Automation of processes: Intelligent cargo enables automated trigerring of many processes throught the supply chain+
Improved information flow among stakeholders: By providing a cross-platform and device independent information flow+
Improved anti-theft protection: Intelligent cargo self-knowledge enforces anti-theft security+
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Improvement of economic income: Both the customs and traders can work much more efficiently:
- Machine-to-machine and web based interfaces for lodging and amending of customs documents in electronic form;
- Automatic validation of data and instant feedback to traders about warnings, errors and possible loading restrictions to certain goods.+
Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: Both the customs and traders can work much more efficiently and reduce the time and costs of the clearance operations: machine-to-machine and web based interfaces for lodging and amending of customs documents in electronic form allow saving on paper (99% of customs declarations are submitted electronically) as well as on human resourcs, since the same job can now be done with half the customs officers. The automatic validation of data and instant feedback to traders about warnings, errors and possible loading restrictions to certain goods allows saving on time and human work. Less time is required for inland and border formalities. Since its adoption, the solution has brought to savings of more than a million Euros per year.+
Automation of processes: The solution WorldBank has ranked Estonia fourth in countries where trading across borders is easy. In particular, the following processes are made automatic: validation of arrival notifications and instant feedback to traders about warnings and errors; handling the arrival of the road transport without requiring the electronic arrival notification assigning the controls based on the results of risk analysis of the arrival and pre-arrival information; managing the status of consignments based on the results of controls quickly and efficiently; automatic validation of arrival notifications and instant feedback to traders about warnings and errors. WorldBank has ranked Estonia fourth in countries where trading across borders is easy.+
Improved information flow among stakeholders: Customs data can be exchanged between all stakeholders, from economic operators to customs officers, thus making the partnership with the business community and government agencies is easier. The integration of data provided by different parties through the solution improves the quality and speed of the information flow related to the transported freight and its required security clearance controls: this helps customs officers to make decisions quickly and efficiently, through automatic and optionally manual risk-analysis of information and the assignment of controls by the customs authorities. As a special feature, the solution contains the full implementation of European Union common customs systems: New Computerized Transit System (NCTS), Export Control System (ECS) and Import Control System (ICS), etc, and supports TARIC, AEO and EORI systems.+
Improved anti-theft protection: The solution allows improving the supply chain security and risk management since customs administrations can exchange pre-arrival and pre-departure data and are provided with reliable data for analyzing and assessing risks and recognizing patterns of fraud.+
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Reduction of energy consumption: The solution provides optimized planning and control, allowing a reduction of fuel consumption, time and costs.+
Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: The solution provides optimized planning and control, allowing a reduction of fuel consumption, time and costs.+
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Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: The real-time interaction between vehicle internal events, environment and infrastructure increases the responsiveness to all kind of events and unforeseen impacts, which allows saving time.+
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Reduction of energy consumption: The solution aims at optimising the traffic control system and prioritizes HGV and emergency vehicles over private cars, thus avoiding their stops and reducing their fuel consumption. Up to 20% reduction of fuel consumption in urban areas is attainable for heavy vehicles.20%
Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: The solution aims at optimising the traffic control system and prioritizes HGV and emergency vehicles over private cars, thus avoiding their stops and reducing their fuel consumption. In this way, emissions are reduced and congestions of heavy vehicles at crossroads are slimmed down.+
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Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: Up to 20% reduction of fuel consumption in urban areas is attainable for HGVs. Besides, HGVs and emergency vehicles are prioritized at signal-controlled intersections and roundabouts, which reduces their waiting time.20%
Automation of processes: The V2I connection makes it easier to automate different processes, since the information flow between te stakeholders can be seamless+
Improved information flow among stakeholders: Yes, the V2I communication contributes to a better information flow among the stakeholders.+
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Reduction of accidents: This is not the focus of the solution, but the driver feedback should lead to more smooth driving, so that accidents can be prevented indirectly+
Development of infrastructural elements: The solution makes use of cooperative systems technology and requires that infrastructures at signal-controlled intersections and roundabouts are provided with antennas, RFID readers and devices communicating with others in vehicle.+
Reduction of noise: By reducing congestion at intersections and roundabouts, the solution helps reducing the noise due to the circulation of heavy vehicles and emergency vehicles in urban areas.+
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Reduction of energy consumption: The opportunity to book a parking place (including loading and unloading areas) and to change the booking based on the traffic conditions avoids unnecessary driving and waiting, thus reducing the consumption of fuel.+
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Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: This solution allows saving on time and human work to find an available parking spot or loading/unloading area. The booking can be changed based on the driver’s probability to get there within the ETA and if a non authorised vehicle occupies the booked slot, the system alerts the local authority. By granting a loading/unloading area, shippers can save money from fees and penalties paid because of parking in non-authorized areas. Drivers performing test fields in the urban area of London reported saving in time of up to 45 minutes in delivering operations thanks to the use of this application. Moreover, the solution allows saving on costs due to parking fines that transport companies must pay because drivers are forced to park in non authorized areas to fulfil the delivery operations. These costs are highly variable as they depend on the company size, business and geographic area of activity. Drivers performing test fields in the urban area of London reported saving in costs from parking fines of £4.5k/month for a fleet of four vehicles45min
Automation of processes: This solution allows automatically booking a parking area suitable for loading/unloading operations of on road transport. Moreover, by updating the ETA based on traffic conditions, it suggests alternative solutions in case the booking time were not suitable anymore+
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Development of infrastructural elements: Infrastructure is needed to the road equipment of the park area in order to recognize the vehicle for which the parked area is booked and allow the parking procedure.+
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Promotion of green corridors and of modal shifts: More efficient use of waterways locks, bridges and terminals by optimising electronic data interchange and logistics operations. Safer use of waterways.+
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Reduction of spills of hazardous material: Supports the monitoring of dangerous goods and traffic management+
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Improvement of economic income: The availability of new services that increases the efficiency of inland waterway transport has a positive effect on the economic income+
Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: The services provides improves the efficiency of information handling. This leads to a reduction of time spent on operations as well on their resources in use+
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Improved information flow among stakeholders: The solution offers a platform for information sharing with easy access and will consequently contribute to a better information flow between the stakeholder including authorities+
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Reduction of accidents: Traffic management services are important for reduction of accidents on IWT. Esp. The services on voyage planning, fleet and event management provides information that helps in reducing number of accidents.+
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Reduction of energy consumption: The live in cab communication system provides suggestions to drivers encouraging better driving and avoiding extensive engine idling times, thus reducing the fuel/energy consumption.+
Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: The live in cab communication system provides suggestions to drivers encouraging better driving and avoiding extensive engine idling times, thus reducing the fuel/energy consumption.+
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Improved information flow among stakeholders: The solution provides multi-language live in-cab communications to HGV drivers about conditions in a region or country they are about to enter. Terminal, container and port operators are involved as sources of information.+
Improved anti-theft protection: The solution provides information about crime hotspots, secure parking locations and local policing practices, thus reducing the risk of security threats.+
Reduction of accidents: By highlighting poor weather conditions and signalling road accidents, traffic disruptions and local driving conditions, the solution allows bettering planning the route and reducing the probability of accidents. This is also important to prevent and reduce security threads for lone drivers.+
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Reduction of noise: By providing updated information related to traffic conditions, the solution helps avoiding waiting queues and traffic congestion, thus reducing noise.+
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Reduction of energy consumption: Technologies and mechanisms for increased road safety improve the traffic flow, thus reducing the fuel consumption of vehicles and their emissions.+
Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: Technologies and mechanisms for increased road safety improve the traffic flow, thus reducing the fuel consumption of vehicles and their emissions.+
Reduction of spills of hazardous material: The solution applies increased safety margins between vehicles, thus reducing the probability of accidents. This is much more important for vehicles transporting dangerous goods, in which case it reduces the probability of loss of transported material due to car bumping/accidents.+
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Improvement of economic income: Higher revenues through higher reliability of traffic and enhanced traffic flow+
Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: Time reduction for the transport of freight, due to less accidents.+
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Improved information flow among stakeholders: Real time information about the traffic and probability of accidents is provided to the driver through V2V and V2I communication.+
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Reduction of accidents: Based on V2V communication, the solution allows an extension of the “safety margin”, namely the time in which a potential accident is detected before it can occur, from the range of “milliseconds” up to “seconds”. This extension, named “green area” reduces the risk of the accident to happen as more time is given to drivers to realize that there is a potential danger and to undertake the appropriate manoeuvres.+
Development of infrastructural elements: The solution is based on V2V and V2I communication and requires antennas, RFID readers, and sensor networks to be applied at the infrastructural level to work.+
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Promotion of green corridors and of modal shifts: The solution provides a platform dedicated to road transport but integrated with infrastructures and terminals for information sharing. Port authorities are among the involved stakeholders.+
Reduction of energy consumption: The solution is a system for advanced route planning based on cargo characteristics and statistics on day/night population, accidents and crimes. By improving the routing, truck drivers reduce the stops and improve the driving style (less accelerations and braking). Thus, the fuel/energy consumes and the emissions are reduced.+
Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: The solution is a system for advanced route planning based on cargo characteristics and statistics on day/night population, accidents and crimes. By improving the routing, truck drivers reduce the stops and improve the driving style (less accelerations and braking). Thus, the fuel/energy consumption and the emissions are reduced.+
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Improvement of economic income: The pilot undertaken in the project has shown significant reductions in the transportation time, which translates into an improvement of the quality of the service and thus of the competitiveness for the transport company on the market+
Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: Improved time efficiency due to faster access to facilities and reduced administration. Average gate time reduced from 10:11 (mm:ss) to 00:47, representing a reduction of transport time of 25% in the studied setup. Analysis and further tests indicate that the large-scale potential of the best practice is a 5,4% reduction of driver’s working time based on driver days. By deleting the administration phase, the associated waiting time (approx. 1,8% (ibid)) can be eliminated.25%
Automation of processes: The solution allows the following processes to be made automatic: monitoring of cargo status based on RFID, generation of proof of delivery/of collection+
Improved information flow among stakeholders: The solution offers an information sharing platform and provides real time data and tracking and tracing of the cargo+
Improved anti-theft protection: The time the trailers are idling is reduced to a minimum, virtually eliminating the risk of theft. Swedish custom declared their intentions of fully supporting an eventual future large-scale roll-out of the project, due to the improved decision and control abilities the solution enabled. Terminals are provided with RFID readers to allow automatic recognition of the trailers entering, so that only approved (verified) ones are allowed. This helps reducing smuggling+
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Promotion of green corridors and of modal shifts: SICIS was designed such that is can be used on any intermodal trade lane worldwide and by any size of supply chain organiser or logistics provider. The solution foresees the secure access to information related to containers and collected by different actors and devices: factories, the AIS of vessels, the CSDs. Data providers and users include: port and customs authorities, inland and terminal operators, cargo owners, 3PLs and shipping companies.+
Reduction of energy consumption: Less empty trucks lead to a reduction of fuel consumption, i.e it is an indirect impact of SICIS.+
Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: Efficiency of multimodal tranport will be optimized, leading to more efficient utilisation of transport equipment and ressources, e.g less empty trucks, consequently this leads to a reduction of emissions.+
Reduction of spills of hazardous material: SICIS would inform if the system is opened. Thus, this may reduce the spill, since the goods are monitored, but there is no numbers available+
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Improvement of economic income: SICIS leads to a reduction of time, human and material ressources throughout the supply chain. This has clearly a positive impact on the economic income+
Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: Reduction of human work and time is attained through an improved visibility of the supply chain. In particular, in a situation such as that of SME logistics providers, where up to 20% of the containers arrive in the destination port on another vessel than the scheduled and advised one, SICIS makes available reliable information about the vessel the container was loaded onto and about the actual ETA of the vessel, making the planning and the operations of the transport process efficient.+
Automation of processes: The solution provides the automatic calculation and update of vessels’ ETA, monitors the container status and triggers alerts in case of non-authorized opening+
Improved information flow among stakeholders: SICIS provides all stakeholders through the web with real time information about the container status, vessel and position. Since the data come a large groups of actors and devices, the solution supplies customs authorities with reliable information about the containers consignor and consignee. SICIS allows authorised companies and authorities to access planning and status information of selected consignments. Furthermore, SICIS is prepared to interface with any data source (CSD provider, terminal system, port community system).+
Improved anti-theft protection: SICIS monitors the container status and triggers alerts if the container seal is broken.+
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Promotion of green corridors and of modal shifts: The platform is designed to be used in multimodal, cross-borders scenario, as a B2B and B2A application. Logistics actors can interface to the platform to safely and securely retrieve updated information related to containers: content, shippers, security status, position and ETA.+
Reduction of energy consumption: The main environmental benefit that can be obtained by adopting the SMART-CM platform is the reduction of 'wasted kilometres', i.e. kilometres travelled due to mistakes in communication (e.g. vessels-port-truck), which represent about 1% of total tonne kilometres travelled annually. This has effect on the energy/fuel consumption and emissions. Assuming:
  • 1000 TEU-kilometres saved;
  • Loading factor of 60% and total load of 11.2 tons per TEU;
  • 80% and 20% of distance travelled respectively on uncongested highway and congested conditions;
  • diesel (gasoline) combustion according to Euro V (Euro IV) norms
    • This amounts to a reduction of 198 kg diesel and 129 kg gasoline.
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Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: the main environmental benefit that can be obtained by adopting the SMART-CM platform is the reduction of 'wasted kilometres', i.e. kilometres travelled due to mistakes in communication (e.g. vessels-port-truck), which represent about 1% of total tonne kilometres travelled annually. This has effect on the energy/fuel consumption and emissions. Assuming:
  • 1000 TEU-kilometres saved
  • Loading factor of 60% and total load of 11.2 tons per TEU;
  • 80% and 20% of distance travelled respectively on uncongested highway and congested conditions;
  • diesel (gasoline) combustion according to Euro V (Euro IV) norms
This amounts to a reduction of about: 20 (0) g SO2, 806 (2860) g NOx, 970 (20643) g CO, 415 (1795) g nm-VOC, 70 (205) g PM, 668 (374045) g CO2, 19 (52) g CH4 and 10 (6) g S for a diesel (gasoline) engine.1%
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Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: The use of the SMART CM system can bring to a transit time gain of containers at ports of at least one day and possibly reduce the dwell time variability, through an enhanced visibility of supply chain processes and improved customs clearance operations. This allows a reduction in costs, which is argued from theoretical models and can be quantified in terms of Value of Time (w), as the monetary value that cargo owner assumes for one day of transit time for goods with monetary value of one unit. w has $ / $ * day dimension and thus independent from the currency chosen. In other words, w shows what portion of value of goods in transit is attached to one day of transit. The calibrated WCM (World Container Model) uses the value of 0.0035. For instance, if a container holds cargo with a value of 100000 €, then w = 350 €/day.1day
Automation of processes: The platform enables all logistics actors and customs authorities to monitor the container security status independently of the CSD technology applied in a trade lane. The VAS Suite provides an advanced mechanism to acquire and combine information from different data sources: based on the information regarding the current position of a container and its planned position, the ETA updates can be provided also using statistical data.
The updates on ETA and ETD constitute the basis for alerting on deviations of time, location (defined by cases where a container is reported in areas/zones that a user –stakeholder- has defined as 'restricted') or handling deviations (when a container was not handled correctly: e.g. it was unloaded in a wrong transhipment port, or has been staying within a terminal for a long period resulting in high demurrage costs).+
Improved information flow among stakeholders: The use of a common communication platform enables better flow of information among logistics actors and customs authorities. The information can be retrieved through the Internet. In particular, security mechanisms are put in practice to treat the 'neutral information' provided by the CSD and required by the customs to monitor the security status of the container, to control the collection and distribution of information in a secured way.+
Improved anti-theft protection: The platform includes services for alerting on deviations of time, location (defined by cases where a container is reported in areas/zones that a stakeholder has defined as 'restricted') or handling deviations (when a container was not handled correctly: e.g. it was unloaded in a wrong transhipment port, or has been staying within a terminal for a long period resulting in high demurrage costs). This can be used to track a container in case of theft.+
Reduction of accidents: The use of the Smart-CM platform can help reducing the on road accidents through a reduction of the 'wasted kilometres', i.e. kilometres travelled due to mistakes in communication (e.g. vessels-port-truck), which represent about 1% of total tonne kilometres travelled annually. By assuming:
  • 1000 TEU-kilometres saved;
  • Loading factor of 60% and total load of 11.2 tons per TEU;
  • 80% and 20% of distance travelled respectively on uncongested highway and congested conditions;
    • the reduction of accidents, expressed in monetary terms, is estimated to be around 39 €.
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Reduction of noise: The use of the Smart-CM platform can help reducing the noise through a reduction of the 'wasted kilometres', i.e. kilometres travelled due to mistakes in communication (e.g. vessels-port-truck), which represent about 1% of total tonne kilometres travelled annually. By assuming:
  • 1000 TEU-kilometres saved;
  • Loading factor of 60% and total load of 11.2 tons per TEU;
  • 80% and 20% of distance travelled respectively on uncongested highway and congested conditions;
the reduction of noise, expressed in monetary terms, is estimated to be around 162 €.1%
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Reduction of GHG, ozone-depleting and POPs emissions: The solution allows an optimal management of traffic in urban areas by distributing the flow of freight vehicles through less congested routes. In this way, the time required for transportation is reduced, along with the fuel and emissions coming from long waiting in blocked queues.+
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Reduction of cost, time, human, and material resources: The solution allows an optimal management of traffic in urban areas by distributing the flow of freight vehicles through less congested routes. In this way, the time required for transportation is reduced, along with the fuel and emissions coming from long waiting in blocked queues.+
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Improved information flow among stakeholders: Through V2I communication, drivers are alerted when they are about to enter a restricted or controlled traffic area, and signalled whether, on the basis of the cargo they transport, they can access it.+
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Reduction of accidents: Monitoring and control of special kinds of cargo, i.e. dangerous goods, will improve road users’ safety.+
Development of infrastructural elements: The solution requires specific devices in RSE communicating with OBU for V2I communication. The project was built over the V2I set up of the CVIS project.+
Reduction of noise: The solution allows an optimal management of traffic, reducing the congestion and thus the noise in urban areas and distribution the flow of freight vehicles across less congested routes.+

Hint: mouse-over the entrances in the table to see how the effect on every indicator is attained!