GIFTS, a system for the integration of the freight transport chain

A sustainable solution to social and environmental problems caused by growing road freight transport is intermodal transport with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to manage all operations in the entire transport chain. The European project GIFTS is developing an open access Internet portal/e-marketplace providing high-technology services to the transport and logistics industry in the European Union, in particular addressing the needs of the small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) from the operator’s, service provider’s and end user’s point of view. Three pilot projects, in which selected users will use GIFTS to manage their shipments for some months, will demonstrate the concept. A first draft release of the integrated ICT platform GIFTS is developing, called the GIFTS Demonstrator, was designed for the purpose. The paper describes how the project addresses logistics and freight transport industry needs, and focuses on the Demonstrator.