Shipper pooling: the key to accelerating modal shift?

Since 2022, a SC4Good LAB group has been dedicated to multimodal transport. Its aim is to identify opportunities for pooling the use of rail transport. The initial group, made up of nine shippers, shared and mapped their logistics flows, identifying common corridors between France and Spain, as well as East-West flows.

However, analysis showed that there weren 't enough of us to create a significant mass effect. To explore the subject of pooling in greater depth, group leader Florence Ughetto, Sustainable Development & Logistics Expert for Renault Supply Chain, organized this webinar.

Hannah Yee, a post-doctoral researcher at École des Ponts ParisTech, presented strategies for decarbonizing freight transport via a modal shift from road to intermodal rail. She explained that rail is used for long distances, while road is used for the first and last kilometers, using the same loading unit throughout. This reduces carbon emissions, as rail transport is less carbon-intensive than road transport.

The researcher went on to discuss the concept of mutualization, where several shippers group together to share transport volumes, thereby reducing fixed costs and obtaining volume-based discounts. She pointed out that intermodal rail is often more expensive than road transport, due to terminal handling costs and first and last mile charges.

Four stages have been identified for setting up a pooling solution:

She stressed the importance of a holistic approach and supply chain perspective to synchronize shippers and optimize transportation and inventory management costs simultaneously.

Bernard Guilbot presented the Appel d'Air tool, developed by the AI-Cargo Fondation association, of which he is Honorary Chairman, to help decarbonize freight transport by facilitating modal shift. Financed by energy saving certificates, this application is free of charge for shippers.

Appel d'Air uses the Cumulus digital platform to help shippers find existing intermodal transport solutions or pool their flows to create new services. The platform features maps detailing Europe's rail and river networks, with the option of zooming in on stations and ports.

Users can carry out simple searches by entering details such as zip code, city, delivery date, and by defining distance or time criteria for pre- and post-carriage. The tool then provides relevant services, ranked by_CO2 savings.

For more complex analyses, users can import CSV files containing their transport flow data. The platform then assesses the eligibility of these flows for modal shift based on existing services, and suggests pooling options to maximize efficiency and_CO2 savings . All data is anonymized to protect shippers' confidentiality.

For the past five years, Michelin has had an ambitious roadmap for reducing its carbon emissions. The company is working on multimodal solutions, starting with rail transport in Europe, using private trains.

For the past two years, Michelin has been using AI Cargo to optimize the decarbonization of its transport volumes. A collaboration initiated with France Supply Chain.

The benefits of the application according to Denis Brangeon, Network Capacity Analyst: