We don’t need an ideologically driven modal shift. According to the German Department of Transport, freight transport should be open to all types of technology and modes of transport as well as environmentally friendly and cost-effective. But what if a majority of the loading units cannot be handled by cranes? We know that around 70% of road freight moves in semi-trailers – 95% of which cannot be craned.

At the same time, the EU wants 30% of freight over distances of more than 300 km shifted to rail and inland waterways by 2030. An ambitious target that raises a simple question: can semi-trailers be part of the solution for modal shift?

That was the starting point of a recent guest lecture by TU Darmstadt alumnus Eugen Truschkin from DB Engineering & Consulting, who pointedly asked: “Quo vadis semi-trailer?”

It is a timely question, especially because intermodal transport is key to addressing some of today’s biggest logistics challenges: increasing global transport volumes, truck driver shortages, and the urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions. Yet modal shares have barely moved in 15 years.

A central part of the answer lies in transhipment technologies. From baskets and ramp concepts to truck-on-rail systems and automated horizontal solutions, promising approaches exist. An important takeaway from the discussion, though, was that the challenge is not choosing one technology, but understanding which solution fits which corridor, marked segment, and operational setting.

If we are serious about shifting more freight to rail, innovation is not only about infrastructure expansion or policy targets. It is about making the best of what we already have – and about rethinking the loading unit itself. Find out about our ongoing research here:

- When we talk about the loading unit, we also need to speak about the loading processes. This is how we can make it more efficient through data-driven optimization.

- Did you know that we can see where intermodal freight transports start and where they end – but not where the loading unit actually moves and how that affects infrastructure? Find out more here.