Freight Mobility as a Service (FMaaS)

The Dutch transport and logistics system is vital to the national and European economy, yet it struggles with inefficiencies, environmental impacts, and a lack of resilience against global disruptions. While efforts have promoted environmentally friendly modes like rail and inland shipping, road transport remains dominant due to fragmented demand and market inefficiencies. Recent challenges, such as pandemic-related supply chain shocks, have highlighted capacity constraints and rising costs, necessitating innovative solutions. The emergence of digital platforms, inspired by successes in industries like ride-hailing and hospitality, presents opportunities to optimise logistics through "Freight Mobility as a Service" (FMaaS). By offering seamless planning, monitoring, and payment services, FMaaS can empower shippers and improve capacity utilisation.

However, poorly designed platforms risk reinforcing inefficiencies, ecological harm, and market monopolisation. To avoid these pitfalls, logistics platforms must prioritise intermodal coordination, shipper-centric functionality, and system-level collaboration. Properly implemented, FMaaS could transform logistics into a more efficient, sustainable, and resilient system, addressing current inefficiencies while avoiding risks of fragmentation and power concentration.

The FMaaS project, Work Package 5 (WP5) focuses on information management and building trust within the platform. The primary research question for the information management aspect of WP5 is: What are the critical information requirements for effective information sharing that enhance decision-making processes and promote platform adoption by all actors? This research will evaluate the value of information in the context of a cargo transport matching platform. Research at WUR aims to identify key information attributes relevant to the platform and its stakeholders and model various information-sharing scenarios to analyse their impact on platform adoption.