ReMuNet

ReMuNet: Resilient multimodal freight transport network

Resilient and green freight transport and logistics networks against disruptive events (including pandemics)

As trailblazer for the Physical Internet, ReMuNet pursues the vision to enable and incentivize synchromodal relay-transportation on European rail, road, and inland waterways to increase the holistic network resilience. It significantly reduces emissions and boosts freight transport corridor efficiency in case of disruptive events. ReMuNet identifies and signals disruptive events and assesses their impact on multimodal transport corridors. It reacts quickly and seamlessly upon disruptive events in real-time and supports TMS-providers to improve route planning resilience. ReMuNet communicates alternative, pre-defined, multimodal transport routes to freight forwarders and subsequently to truck drivers, locomotive drivers and barge captains enabling a faster and adaptive multimodal network response. Moreover, ReMuNet orchestrates route utilization, suggests exchange nodes for multimodal transport modes and optimizes capacity allocation, minimizing damage and shortening the recovery time.

As natural catastrophes multiply in the wake of climate change, the risks of pandemics and geopolitical conflicts are omnipresent, the threat of disruptive events to the European transport network grows ever–greater. In 2021 alone, economic losses due to supply chain disruptions in the Eurozone amounted to 112.7billion € . With increasing complexity of global supply chains and closely timed transport schedules, the vulnerability of European trade to disruptive events will continue to increase unless transport networks become more resilient. However, these measures must consider environmental and climate protection aspects to achieve the EU’s Green Deal and the UN sustainability goals for the transport sector by 2030 and beyond. The European vision of the Physical Internet, enabling seamless access to resources and assets in open, connected, and shared networks is actively pursued.

ReMuNet will contribute to this vision by providing the transport network with the core ability to prepare, respond, and adapt for disruptive events. Against this backdrop, we use digital technologies for holistically improving logistic and freight transport network resilience – from more robust participatory planning processes to shorter response times and quicker system recovery. Considering environmental aspects, ReMuNet further contributes to the implementation of the Physical Internet and thus aims for synchromodal transport options with the lowest emissions utilizing the asset sharing concept of relay traffic.

ReMuNet increases transport network resilience and boosts corridor efficiency. Currently, the European freight and logistic transport network lacks sufficient standards, digitization, and sustainable, cost-efficient business models for a joint utilization of multimodal transport modes. ReMuNet breaks down planning horizons of multimodal transport to a synchromodal operative layer and enables multimodal relay-transport. ReMuNet builds on a self-learning system design which is continuously optimized based on underlying objective functions “resilience” and “lowest emission”, thus leading to a significant increase of corridor efficiency. The interdisciplinary consortium and integration of a large stakeholder network ensure practicability, marketability, and wide-ranging acceptance.