In road freight transport, journeys are interrupted to comply with driving and rest periods. These interruptions not only extend the transportation time. Truck parking spaces are also occupied, of which, according to BASt and BGL, there is a shortage of around 35,000 on German highways. The search for a parking space leads to CO2-intensive parking search traffic, driving time overruns and frustration among truck drivers. Wildly parked trucks cause accidents, inconvenience local residents and, according to VEDA, encourage cargo thefts with damage running into billions.

Interruptions to transportation can be avoided by securing trailers with an IoT lock at the end of the driving time and then handing them over to rested drivers. The project aims to research safe, cross-forwarding “relay traffic”: long-distance routes are to be broken down into partial routes on an internet platform using AI algorithms, which are then brokered between forwarding companies and carriers via a driving time marketplace using real-time data (e.g. traffic, infrastructure, IoT, telematics).

The following steps are planned to achieve this goal:

• Concept (sustainability, business model, legal, security)
• Platform (driving time marketplace, AI algorithm, UX/UI)
• Smart security system (IoT system for trailer handover)
• Integration of traffic, telematics, TMS and IoT data
• Big data processing and provision of refined data (mCloud)
• Creation of standardization documents (e.g. DIN SPEC, CWA)
• Pilot-type validation based on a regional driving time marketplace and long-distance traffic