December 7, 2017

Tinder for transport

For each truck on the road, one is driving empty. And in average, only 57% of the freight capacity of lorries is used. With these striking figures, awareness rises. Something has to be done to make transport more efficient, in order to reach the goals of the reduction of emissions, to keep companies profitable and efficient, and to tackle the issues of an ever growing traffic congestion.
At the end of November a congress about this subject was organised by the Vlerick School of Economics and the University of Leuven (Belgium).
Powered by big data and algorithms certain tools will calculate the best transport routes and combinations. There is already one Dutch startup –Quicargo– that calls itself the Uber for the transport sector.

Source: Flemish newspaper De Standaard, 2 December 2017 – Photo: Mike Louagie