PROFESSION LOGISTIQUE N°4 – MARCH 2024
Appel d’aiR is an initiative of the AI Cargo Foundation which aims to change the landscape of freight transport by encouraging modal shift towards more sustainable options such as rail and inland waterways. By offering an anonymous and secure platform for the mutualization of flows, it 
optimizes shipments and reduces empty runs, thus contributing to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. The point of view of Bernard Guilbot, Honorary President of AI Cargo Foundation and director of the Appel d’aiR program.
Can you present to us the Appel d’aiR platform and its role in goods transport?
Bernard Guilbot: The Appel d’aiR platform is designed to facilitate the modal shift, that is to say the transfer of freight transport from road to more sustainable modes such as rail and inland waterways. It allows shippers and freight forwarders to easily discover if their goods flows are eligible for this modal shift and to adapt them accordingly. What is unique is that it is an anonymous and secure platform where each actor can indicate their starting and arriving point for free.
How does Appel d’aiR meet the challenge of pooling transport?
The big challenge is to convince shippers to pool their shipments in order to achieve the volumes required for efficient alternative transport, which is often counter-intuitive for them. As a sovereign plateform developed by AI Cargo Foundation, Appel d’aiR acts
as a neutral, trusted third party, allowing shipments to be pooled securely and anonymously. This not only optimises fl ows but also reduces empty runs, addressing both environmental and economic issues.
What are the key stages in implementing Appel d’aiR?
The first version of Appel d’aiR’s platform has been operational since November 2022. We have scheduled a major presentation for V1 at SITL in March 2023, followed by major updates with V2 in early September 2023 and V3 in December 2023. Each version will bring new features and improvements, always with the aim of facilitating modal shift. Our goal is ambitious: to achieve a modal shift equivalent
How does artificial intelligence (AI) integrate into this approach?
AI is crucial for Cumulus. It allows us to reduce the combinatorics and therefore to identify more quickly relevant scenarios for transport demand and to operate a classification between different types of goods. It is essential to ensure the compatibility of goods transported together and to allow operators to invest in the decarbonization of their means of transport, by directing them towards modal shift. We are at a key moment for the transport of goods. With solutions like Cumulus, we have a real opportunity to make this sector more sustainable. I invite the actors of transport and logistics to join us in this adventure towards a greener future!
FOCUS ON AI CARGO FOUNDATION
AI Cargo Foundation is a government-funded not for-profi t association under the French law of 1901, created by Hub France IA. Its mission is to accelerate collaborative practices and develop innovative tools based on artificial intelligence to effectively support the ecological transition. The association was created in 2020 thanks to a unique collaboration within the Hub France IA, where various industry players joined forces to harness the potential of AI to provide a concrete response to the climate emergency… Taking the form of an association under the French law of 1901, it provides a neutral and sovereign framework for its mission. It is supported by the Agence d’ l’Innovation et des Transports (AIT) of the French Ministry for Ecological Transition. The service is 100% free, financed by energy saving certificates.
https://www.appeldair.org/
With a modal shift target of two billion tonnes/km by 2025, Appel d’aiR is a key player in the evolution towards greener logistics.
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