TRUCKNET - DIGITAL MAGAZINE - December 2020

The total time a truck spends in the terminal area is called turnaround time. It includes the time from the arrival, loading, and unloading of containers, inspection of the truck, filling out the documentation, and going out from the terminal. Extended truck turnaround time can cause an increase in port congestion that slows down the movement of cargo out of the terminal. The longer the turnaround time, the chance that a port may run out of storage facilities will increase. In addition, if a truck does not exit the port quickly, it blocks new trucks from going in, which reduces efficiency and increases the expense of port operations. Demurrage and detention (fees that companies must pay for using containers after they have gone over the allotted time for usage) bring significant costs for cargo companies. In September 2020, the EU issued a Call for Proposals for research and innovation projects relating to the European Green Deal, its major initiative for achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The Call is looking for concrete and effective solutions to respond to the current environmental emergencies. There are ten areas in which projects will be funded, including sustainable and smart mobility. There are two available topics in this area of the Call: green airports and ports as multimodal hubs for sustainable and smart mobility. What are the main problems in port transportation? The air cargo industry is still largely paper-based. Many types of documents are required for shipments beginning with the shipper all the way to the final terminal. Much of this is prepared with copies of very large amounts of paper. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry confronted the huge impact of increasing the demand for air cargo. Imagine the thousands of copies of documents that have to be physically touched by many during the Pandemic. In some cases, the air cargo paper documentation is shipped separately from the actual cargo via express couriers. Validation of data in this situation requires human input, often resulting in the need of gathering hundreds of employees. It should be noted that the European Union (EU) prepared a roadmap, the “ Green Deal ” , for making their economy sustainable, competitive and carbon neutral by 2050. This growth strategy is in line with the long-term objectives of the Paris Agreement. More than 50% of goods are transported by road and today transport accounts for 25% of GHG emissions in Europe. For the EU to become climate neutral by 2050, a 90% reduction in transport emissions will be required, 6