The main objective of LOGCHAIN+ is to improve international freight transport within Europe through the development and optimisation of continuous logistic chains between shipper and receiver. This can be achieved by integrating innovative techniques, advanced forms of organisation, efficient operating procedures, and novel IT applications. Central to the initiative is the concept known as intermodal transport – a mixture of different modes of transportation (i.e. over-the-road, water and rail).

The overriding political objective of LOGCHAIN+ is to shift freight traffic from Europe’s roads and highways to rail and waterways – thereby contributing to the achievement of a better balance between the transport modes. In order to do so, rail transport in particular must be linked more efficiently to other carriers of freight. This requires optimising the interfaces where different forms of transportation meet.

LOGCHAIN+ provides actors in the European transport sector – transport enterprises, forwarders and logistics providers – as well as those active in transportation research and development with a platform for launching new co-operative research projects at the international level aimed at redesigning long-distance freight transport in such a way so as to make it friendlier to the environment, more efficient, and more customer-oriented.

International freight traffic represents a key factor for continued growth in the European economy and for ensuring sustainability of social and industrial processes in Europe – also with a special focus on the New Member States and candidate countries. Efficiency, speed and dependability, optimisation of the interfaces, and the existence of continuous lines of information and communication are all decisive elements of intermodal transportation.

LOGCHAIN+ focuses on R&D in the following areas:

• Optimisation of processes in identified transport corridors
• Innovative use of the basic technologies (i.e. IT technologies) necessary for these applications.

These objectives can be achieved through a comprehensive analysis of markets, a comparative evaluation of existing transport chains (benchmarking) and the development and implementation of innovations and improvements. Ultimately, the goal is to set up pilot projects to demonstrate the newly developed technical processes and forms of organisation.