5G and Transport & Logistics
Be it by rail, road, sea, inland waterways, pipe or air, the transport and logistics sector is the linchpin that keeps the UK moving, physically and fiscally. In fact, as an island nation, the movement of goods – or logistics – is critical to our very existence, with the value of imports and exports worth £48bn and £51bn respectively. The movement of people – or transport – also racked up 873 billion passenger kilometres in 2019 alone according to the Department of Transport.
To succeed and thrive, organisations need to become more resilient, agile and productive. 5G – and the digital technologies it powers – can be the key to unlocking a more efficient, sustainable future for transport and logistics. But while more benefits and use cases emerge every day, the road ahead won’t be without its challenges on the journey to adopting, implementing and maximising the true potential of 5G.
VEHICLE PLATOONING
Vehicle platooning is an intelligent transportation system (ITS) application for freight vehicles. It improves aerodynamic effectiveness and performance, increases the capacity of roads and provides a more steady-state traffic flow.
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
West Midlands 5G with Transport for West Midlands are deploying the UK's first 5G connected Road Sensor Network. Using sensors deployed on lamp posts, highly granular, fully anonymised, data is collected on all road users & vehicle types to identify & solve congestion problems.
SHIPPING
A pilot scheme in Barcelona is pairing 5G with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) to manage the flow of boats and ships: accurately locating each vessel in real-time, through a mix of image data and motion sensors.
5G PORTS
Port of Felixstowe will use 5G Internet of Things (IoT) devices and predictive data analytics to reduce unscheduled downtime of cranes and to boost the productivity & efficiency of the operation of the port’s ship-to-shore gantry cranes.
https://uk5g.org/discover/testbeds-and-trials/5g-ports-port-felixstowe/
LAST MILE DELIVERY - DRONES
UPS Flight Forward is using drones for the last hundred yards of delivery. Taking this one step further, Vodafone & Sapcord have successfully trialled new precision positioning technology for drone deliveries to moving targets.
LAST MILE DELIVERY – ROBOTS
Six examples – including Starship which is now in live service in Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire. Recent research has shown that close to 70% of Starship’s customers forgo driving to a store or receiving a delivery from a fuel powered vehicle in favour of robot delivery.
