German company Volocopter wants to use electrically powered drones to transport people and goods in the air. This could become reality in around two years, since the technology is already mature and many investors support the idea. Now all that’s missing is certification so the aircraft can be allowed in cities.

Every day we are greeted with cars lined up bumper to bumper: permanent traffic jams have become the routine in many metropolitan regions. The powers that be in towns and cities are looking for ways out of the gridlock which are in line with the road traffic law reform according to new concepts for stable, functioning urban logistics.

The best logistics solutions are those that aren’t needed in the first place. That is the opinion of Professor Ani Melkonyan-Gottschalk, Managing Director of the Centre for Logistics and Transport (ZLV) at the University of Duisburg-Essen. She argues that individual logistics solutions alone are not enough to meet the challenges of urban infrastructure and that instead dual-purpose concepts hold the key to a sustainable logistics future.

Reading time: approx. 4 minutesText: Juliane GringerPhotos: Prof. Dr. Stefan Iskan / supplychainmachine.com, Shutterstock"The transport and logistics industry is becoming a process supplier for the economy and society," says Stefan Iskan, professor of logistics and...

Anna-Theresa Korbutt, Managing Director of the Hamburg Transport Association (hvv), calls for a concession award for city logistics. What works for public transport is a rescue option for congested metropolises.

With the BeIntelli project, the Technische Universität Berlin, together with many partners, is researching how intelligently networked mobility can function in the city.

The digitisation of logistics is advancing rapidly. A Fraunhofer research team in Dortmund is developing blockchain technologies that can be used to map a wide variety of processes and transactions in a legally secure and tamper-proof manner.

Services where little advice and support is needed in sales can easily be handled online. Lasse Landt, Managing Director of Pamyra GmbH, believes that in the future most transports will also be booked directly online by customers with a few clicks.

The large roof surfaces of box bodies, with their attractive sunny position, are ideal for generating renewable energy. A Fraunhofer research team is therefore testing new concepts for vehicle-integrated photovoltaics.

Digital solutions can speed up clearance at the barrier enormously. But how can a shipper be sure that a transport company meets the requirements for entry? The key is a careful check of all documents and certificates. We took a closer look at Trusted Carrier’s solution for the chemical industry.

Until now, freight transport has often been a poor relation in urban planning. But how can city logistics function when the demand for transport is increasing and at the same time there is less and less space available? Stuttgart now wants to learn from past mistakes. Götz Bopp from the Stuttgart Region Chamber of Industry and Commerce explains what a new development quarter of the future could look like.

The mobility of tomorrow is smart, networked, electrified and automated – and the implementation is already much further along than some would expect: This is how the findings of the 13th Mobility Science Forum at the University of Duisburg-Essen can be summarized.

Cargo bikes for the last mile are now considered the ultimate in sustainable city logistics. In Cologne, the Rewe delivery service, together with Ecocarrier, relies on the use of vans and cargo bikes. What actually constitutes bicycle logistics? Which bikes are the first choice? And is the bike ultimately faster than a vehicle with a combustion engine?

With an electrically driven, automated “Ducktrain”, the Aachen-based company DroidDrive wants to make logistics in inner cities more efficient, cleaner and quieter: With its pallet-sized carts, the “Ducktrain” offers space for parcel shipments and other goods to be transported into the city.

Die TH Köln macht den Studierenden herausragende Lehrangebote zum Thema „künstliche Intelligenz in der Logistik“. Dafür erhielt das Logistikteam der TH jüngst den Hochschulpreis Güterverkehr und Logistik des Bundesverkehrsministeriums, der 2020 unter dem gleichnamigen Motto stand. Prof. Stephan Freichel erklärt, wo künstliche Intelligenz (KI) schon heute in der Praxis angekommen ist und wie sich Führungskräfte für die Zukunft aufstellen sollten.

Trucks with a total weight of 40 tons are part of the normal road scene. But without a driver? Especially in the commercial vehicle sector, autonomous driving offers enormous potential, but also special risks. Although trailers have a strong influence on the driving dynamics and reliability of semitrailers, they have so far received little attention when it comes to autonomous driving. The “IdenT” research project is changing this.

To transport goods without emissions, vehicles with alternative drive systems are needed. Hauliers have long complained that such vehicles are not available. Is this true? motionist.com has brought three sides together in a video conference: Peter Prijak, Director New Vehicle Sales at Volvo Trucks, Kirsten Lühmann, transport policy spokeswoman of the SPD parliamentary group and member of the committee for transport and digital infrastructure, and Wolfgang Thoma, managing director of Spedition Ansorge. A debate between manufacturer, logistics expert and politician.

Freight transport accounts for a large proportion of global CO2 emissions. The greenhouse gas is considered to be the biggest contributor to climate change. So what responsibility do companies in the transport and logistics sector have for climate protection, and how can they deal with it?

Logistics is the backbone of the German economy but many restrictions and regulations make work difficult for the industry’s entrepreneurs. Three logistics experts clearly state on motionist.com what they expect from politics.

Cities are full and our transport infrastructure is reaching its maximum capacity. However, it is not the vehicles that supply supermarkets, retail outlets and construction sites that need the most space, but rather private vehicles. How can this be reduced? This is what two experts from Hamburg discuss on motionist.com: Professor Gesa Ziemer, Head of the City Science Lab at Hafencity University, researches mobility in the cities of tomorrow. Hans Stapelfeldt, Network Manager at Logistik-Initiative Hamburg, is responsible for implementing the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) strategy and the ITS World Congress 2021.

The technology was reliable, less diesel was used and the drivers were also satisfied: in a practical test on the A 9 motorway between Nuremberg and Munich, truck platooning convinced project partners DB Schenker and MAN Truck & Bus. Even if there is still a long way to go until it comes into operation, the initiators are certain that the technology offers great potential.

The Digital Hub Logistics in Hamburg has been connecting established companies with start-ups and players from the fields of research and education for two years now. The former warehouse in the city’s Speicherstadt warehouse district is a place where new ideas and business models for the future of logistics are taking shape.

Martina Mara is Professor of Robot Psychology at the Linz Institute of Technology (LIT) of the Johannes Kepler University Linz. She is carrying out research on how robots and humans can work well together, and what is key to ensuring we do not fear machines. How can driverless vehicles gain our trust, for example?