The deployment of electronic freight transport information (eFTI), is one of the pillars of the EU’s attempt to decarbonise the freight industry. The policy aims at digitalising freight transport documents, most of which are still currently circulating in a physical form.
RailFreight.com had a chat with Eva Killar, Head of Mobility Development and Investments Department at the Estonian Ministry of Climate, and Heiti Mering, founder of the Estonian Digital Logistics Centre of Excellence, to discuss the eFTI programme and have a clearer understanding of it.
The double interview will be published in two parts. In the first one, the role of eFTI for rail, the predictability of its implementation costs and the role of the policy in the context of the Greening Freight Package (GFP) were investigated. The main conclusion is that such an initiative should ease the transfer of cargo from one modality to another, thus making intermodal services more efficient, especially when crossing borders.
What would a large-scale implementation of eFTI4EU bring to the rail freight sector?
The primary purpose of eFTI is to save labour resources in data processing and make available preventive information regarding the goods accepted for transport, such as operational data. In Europe, railways are connected to either the SMGS, in the east, or CIM, in the west. Both organizations have developed a digital version of the transport document. Thus, there is a readiness to transfer cargo from one railway to another.
On the other hand, there is no possibility to move cargo from one mode of transport to another, for which eFTI Gate capabilities can and must be applied. This would be beneficial for rail transport as it is predominantly multimodal, meaning that goods transported by rail are usually part of a journey that involves a water or road leg. Specifically, the special feature of the railway is long-distance journeys across several countries. However, one operator cannot operate trains in each country it needs to cross. Therefore, wagons can either be handed to new operators at the borders or transferred to other modes of transport.
What does the rail freight industry think of it?
For railways, the goal of eFTI is a bit far-fetched because trains are not inspected while on the road. At the same time, the railway understands that cargo movement information is important for goods owners, as are links with customs requirements and statistics. The railway sector has a different planning system compared to other modes of transport.
Nevertheless, the cargo, the transport order information and the transport contract information are generally the same across modalities. In the case of railways and waterways, more than one transport contract may be valid simultaneously in the transport process. The eFTI regulation establishes a legal framework that allows economic operators to share with enforcement authorities information in an electronic format concerning the transport of goods. eFTI doesn’t regulate contracts between the parties.
What are the costs of this project for rail operators?
It is hard to say exactly how much the rail operators will have to invest to be ready for the deployment of eFTI. It depends very much on the level of digitalisation they currently have and how much IT development they need to carry out to connect to the eFTI Gate in their country. Before evaluating the costs and investments, it is necessary to clarify the role of companies operating on the railways. What is the responsibility of the infrastructure owner and what is the operator responsible for? Since this situation is different in different countries today, clear instructions are needed regarding the handling of goods data, which would ensure the fulfillment of the eFTI Regulation according to the expectations of the parties.
In general, every country should have at least one railway eFTI Platform managed, for example by the infrastructure owner, offering it as a service to all operators. At the same time, each operator can create its own eFTI Platform and connect it to the eFTI Gate in any country of the European Union. eFTI4EU’s mission is to encourage Member States to work together to develop a well-harmonised and interoperable European-wide eFTI exchange environment. Developing and providing national and regional eFTI roadmaps ensures that eFTI is integrated consistently across Member States.
What is the role of the eFTI platform in connection with the Combined Transport Directive of the Greening Freight Package?
In the future, the Combined Transport Directive should require carriers to use the eFTI network. This would create value for the parties in the supply chain and the competent authorities exercising supervision. If we include the Greening Freight Package (GFP) here, it is clear that environmental impact and sustainability cannot be assessed without data. When shipments move with paper shipping documents, entering them at every point in your system is cumbersome and often neglected. However, the lack of data impedes the necessary calculations to be made. Therefore, eFTI and the GFP fulfill the same purpose in terms of organising more economically efficient and environmentally friendly freight transport.
The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of eFTI4EU project and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union.
