Freight mobility as a service: Open platforms for synchromodal transport

We propose user-centric booking platforms for end-to-end freight transport as a requirement for the scaling of synchromodal transport and a new avenue for transport and logistics research. We start with the assertion that synchromodal transport is still an unapplied concept due to the strong heterogeneity and disconnection of the transport offer and the huge variety of cargo requests. We suggest that open digital platforms with a focus on shippers can help create transparency that benefits shippers and carriers, and may increase the efficiency in the use of network capacity. We denote the concept "Freight Mobility as a Service (FMaaS). Current digital platforms predominantly operate under the assumption that transport services are on-demand, often with flexible lead times, overlooking the structured nature of most actual transport operations. FMaaS challenges this paradigm by recognizing that a significant portion of transport—such as rail, barge, and short sea shipping—is inherently scheduled, not chartered, and must be integrated accordingly. Finally, FMaaS is an open market where the visibility of the transport service offer for the shipper is global and not limited to contracts between the platform operator and the service suppliers. The applicability of FMaaS presents barriers and questions that open possibilities for a rich multidisciplinary research agenda. One of the main barriers to this concept is the acceptance of the actors involved, along with the lack of scientific evidence on how a user-centric platform system can help achieve the sustainability challenge. Also, the development of centralized platforms may pose serious commercial and legal threats. This paper aims to describe the requirements and possible research avenues of this new paradigm in the wake of an emerging market.