Table Of ContentECONOMICRESEARCH CENTRE
TELEMATICS
IN GOODS TRANSPORT
EUROPEANCONFERENCEOFMINISTERSOFTRANSPORT
PARIS1989
ECONOMICRESEARCHCENTRE
REPORT OF THE
SEVENTY-EIGHTH ROUNDTABLE
ON TRANSPORT ECONOMICS
Held in Parison 13th-14th October 1988
onthefollowingtopic:
TELEMATICS
IN GOODS TRANSPORT
EUROPEANCONFERENCEOFMINISTERSOFTRANSPORT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TELEMATICS IN GOODS TRANSPORT
COOPER. J.
United Kingdom(cid:9) 5
FRYBOURG. M.
France(cid:9) 31
WANDEL. S.
Sweden(cid:9) 51
SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSION
(Round Table debate on the reports) (cid:9) 97
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS(cid:9) Ill
ECMT - ECONOMIC RESEARCH CENTRE
Forthcoming publications(cid:9) 115
UNITED KINGDOM
COOPER. J.
The Polytechnic of Central London
London
SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION (cid:9) 7
2. USE OF TELEMATICS: AN OVERVIEW (cid:9) 8
3. AN ASSESSMENT OF SOME SPECIFIC TELEMATIC
APPLICATIONS (cid:9) 12
4 . CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS (cid:9) 23
BIBLIOGRAPHY (cid:9) 28
ANNEX (cid:9) 29
London. May 1988
INTRODUCTION
Freight transport and distribution in Europe seem
certain to be transformed by two major developments over the
next decade. These developments are the completion of the
internal market within the European Community and the
increasing application of telematics (sometimes referred to as
information technology) to freight transport and distribution
operations.
Telematic systems are a key catalyst for change in the
organisation of the freight transport industries. In addition,
the completion of the internal market brings major
opportunities for change. The process of transport
deregulation in most European countries is already well under
way in preparation for the internal market and this will make
it easier for operators to respond better to the future needs
of users. At present, freight transport is organised in a
highly parochial way. with few providers offering a
comprehensive European transport service for users. Over the
next few years, as access to transport markets becomes easier,
European distribution networks are likely to emerge.
In many cases these networks will be dedicated to the
needs of large multinational companies. Already many
multinational companies see Europe as a unified entity in
production terms; "sirigle-sourcing" is evidence of this.
Similarly, they are also increasingly able to see the European
Community as a single market of 320 million consumers, and
products are being designed not just for. say, Italy or France
but for all countries of the Community. Integrated
distribution networks are clearly a logical next step in
bringing products to European consumers.
The development of integrated distribution networks
depends on the widespread use of sophisticated telematic
systems. On a pan-European scale, the efficient control of
freight transport and other related services (such as
warehousing and inventory) becomes almost impossible without
the extensive use of telematics.
The main purpose of this paper is to report on the
current state of telematics development within freight
companies. Clearly the present state of telematics
development, and the pace of change, are major considerations
for the freight industry, especially within the context of
European development.
Most of the source material for the paper originates
from an extensive programme of research into telematics carried
out by the Transport Studies Group between 1983 and 1987.
Specific projects examined are:
-- Telematics in delivery control (a project funded by
the Science and Engineering Research Council).
-- Telematics and the small haulier (also a project
funded by the Science and Engineering Research
Council).
-- Telematics and the planning of multidrop deliveries
(project funded by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund).
-- The potential for expert systems in computer-based
vehicle routeing and scheduling (project funded by
the National Advisory Body) .
Of necessity, all of the research has been based in the
United Kingdom and the findings are therefore specific to the
United Kingdom. Nonetheless, it is likely that many
conclusions will apply to numerous other European countries as
they, too, have sought to realise the potential benefits of
telematics.
2. USE OF TELEMATICS: AN OVERVIEW
Freight transport industries in most countries are
characterised by their fragmentation. The relatively low
capital cost of entry makes it easy for owner-drivers to become
providers of a variety of transport services. In the United
Kingdom in 1980 (the last year in which figures were compiled)
no fewer than 54 per cent of operators were owner-drivers .
Indeed. 94 per cent of operators owned ten or fewer vehicles.
Yet the other 6 per cent of larger operators accounted for
exactly half the vehicles operated in the United Kingdom.
Size of fleet is an important consideration for
telematics. Research at the Transport Studies Group has shown
that a fleet size of ten vehicles appears to represent a
threshold for telematics applications. Below about ten
vehicles. the operator requirement for telematics will be
restricted to general management applications. such as
accounting. For larger fleets, the applications will be more
specifically related to freight transport and its associated
activities. The potential applications of telematics within
larger fleets are in the following main areas:
Sales order processing, where orders for goods are
relayed from the sales office to the distribution
department for despatch.
-- Despatch goods invoicing, where information on goods
delivered to customers is relayed to the accounts
department for invoices to be prepared and sent to
customers .
-- Stock control, where demand for stocked products is
monitored and new stock ordered in line with forecast
demand.
-- Stock location, where the optimum locations of depots
are determined according to the volumes and
destinations of goods despatched to customers (and
possibly the volumes and origins of goods from
suppliers) .
-- Fleet management. where the fleet vehicles are
monitored according to maintenance (e.g. frequency of
component repair) and administrative needs (e.g.
reminder for payment date for vehicle taxation) .
-- Vehicle scheduling and routeing, where vehicles are
assigned delivery work and routes designed for the
vehicles to follow.
-- Tachograph analysis, where tachograph discs are
analysed to give management information on, for
example, vehicle speeds and time of deliveries.
Some of the above applications of telematics (e.g. stock
location. tachograph analysis) will remain the concern of
single company departments; there is little need for data
transfer between departments. However, other telematic systems
can be used to form complex networks within companies.
Figure 1 shows the scale of potential complexity, not just
within a single organisation, but where links are forged with
the customer of the transport service and the goods consignee.
Few companies yet operate telematics on th^ scale
indicated in Figure 1. There has been an uneven acceptance of
telematic systems within freight companies [1], with some
systems being considerably more popular than others. In a
detailed study [2] of thirty British companies (see Annex for
descriptions of the companies) the present and planned use of
telematics were examined. Table 1 shows that sales order
processing, despatched goods invoicing and stock control each
had a high level of implementation.
Companies in the study were already using these three
telematic systems, or had no use planned, usually because their
business did not justify using telematics. For example, a
parcels carrier would have no requirement for a stock control
system.
Table 1 would therefore appear to suggest that
saturation has been reached in a number of telematics
