Unpredictability rather than transit time is the greatest obstacle to supply chain performance, according to Martin Hubert, founder and chief executive of Freightgate. Speaking at Multimodal 2026 in Birmingham, Hubert argued that block train operations demonstrate how tighter operational discipline, supported by data-driven technology, can improve reliability across increasingly complex international supply chains.
Hubert said the logistics industry has invested heavily in visibility over the past decade but has paid less attention to managing the points where freight transfers between modes. Those handovers, he argued, remain the weakest links in many international supply chains, particularly as operators contend with geopolitical disruption, changing shipping schedules, port congestion and shifting trade corridors.
Schrödinger Strait two-way no-way
Founded in California more than two decades ago, Freightgate develops cloud-based transport management and supply chain execution software used across rail, maritime, road and air freight. The platform combines transport planning, real-time shipment visibility, emissions reporting and multimodal optimisation, processing more than one million transport visibility events each day. Hubert said the company helped optimise the movement of approximately 1.5m TEU during the past year.
According to Hubert, most supply chains are still planned centrally for optimum conditions, yet execution becomes fragmented as cargo passes between operators, terminals and transport modes, each using separate systems. However, he claims the real-world picture is far from clear-cut. “We have rapidly changing rates, port congestion, closed corridors, the Silk Road has been rerouted and is still not fully functional,” he said. “We have Schrödinger Strait [of Hormuz], which is open and closed at the same time. It’s just a mess out there.”
Demonstrable benefits
Rather than creating ever more visibility, Hubert argued, the industry should focus on using existing operational data to support dynamic routing, automated exception management and faster decision-making when disruption occurs. He highlighted Freightgate’s work supporting block train services operated with DB Cargo as an example of how coordinated operations can improve predictability. Dedicated train paths, committed capacity and synchronised planning enable operators to respond more effectively to disruption than conventional freight services, where responsibilities are often divided between multiple organisations and systems.
Comparing Europe with North America, Hubert noted that rail freight operators in Europe continue to face infrastructure constraints that limit economies of scale. While the European Union’s TEN-T programme is progressively standardising freight corridors to accommodate trains of at least 740m, and Britain’s strategic freight network is increasingly capable of handling 775-metre trains including locomotives, both remain considerably shorter than many North American freight trains, which frequently exceed two kilometres in length.
Hubert added that dedicated block trains can nevertheless become commercially attractive over much shorter distances than conventional rail freight because they reduce terminal delays and improve asset utilisation. He cited services in Italy as an example where dedicated rail operations can compete effectively over distances of only a few hundred kilometres.
AI should support decisions
Artificial intelligence formed part of Hubert’s presentation, although he cautioned against applying AI indiscriminately throughout logistics operations. Routine, deterministic processes such as database lookups should remain conventional software tasks, he said, while AI should be reserved for analysing exceptions, interpreting unstructured information and recommending operational responses.
Freightgate combines locally controlled AI models with larger public models to improve performance while protecting commercially sensitive customer data. Hubert argued that organisations should also consider the environmental cost of large-scale AI processing alongside its operational benefits. His concluding message to delegates was that competitive advantage will come less from collecting additional operational data than from using existing information to govern transport decisions more intelligently across the entire intermodal supply chain.
