Semitrailers by rail or train on the road - Intermodal transport or platooning

For over 20 years, the ZLW/IMA researches in the field of freight transport and coordinates projects in this field of action. Both, individual elements of transport chains (e.g. terminals) and entire transport chains are conceived, developed and optimised. This contribution presents two current projects of research, which engage in the accomplishment of the increasing road transport. Since a development of the road infrastructure in equivalent for the rise of the traffic volume will not be possible in the next years, alternative strategies for the prevention of the threatening traffic collapse must be found. One possibility is given in the shifting of the freight transport on other transportation modes, e. g. the rail (solution: combined transport). An alternative strategy exists in the increase of the infrastructural efficiency available by electronic coupling of trucks (solution: Truck convoy). These two solutions must count themselves thereby both microeconomic for the freight forwarders and economic for the European society. For this reason the two solutions are compared macroeconomic with one another.