Scottish university builds first simulated freight truck journey in UK

A Scottish university has built the first simulated freight truck journey as part of research into decarbonising the transport sector.

Led by the TransiT project and involving researchers at Heriot-Watt University, scientists are using data to create a digital replica of a journey between London and East Midlands Airport along the M1.

It will help establish what electric vehicle charging points are needed along the corridor and help to improve understanding of the carbon footprint of goods that are shipped between road and air freight.

Dr Alex Foote, who is leading the research, said the simulation will show how truck freight can transition to fully electric heavy goods vehicles by 2050, in line with the UK’s net zero target.

He said: “Our goal at TransiT is to identify the fastest, lowest-cost routes to transport decarbonisation, so our agents get better scores if their trucks find shorter routes that reduce the time and cost of their journeys. 

“This might mean they favour charging at the depot before starting their journey, during wait times between jobs, so they don’t have to stop enroute. Or if it’s a long route, they might have to charge at a service station along the way.

“The great advantage of agent-based models is that the agents can tell us what the best solution is.”

The project is using data from 6,5000 trucks and vans in shipping company DHL’s fleet, and is in collaboration with Cranfield University.

The digital twin of the journey allows researchers to add electric vehicles to the fleet, as well as charging infrastructure both along the route and at DHL depots, to ascertain the impact on the environment and wider transport system.

The next step in the research will be the include an air freight simulation, which is being developed by Cranfield University.

Lorna Dean, head of UK network and linehaul planning at DHL Express, said: “Research in this area is essential to the future of our road and air freight operations because it underpins the technologies that will help us to cut carbon at scale while keeping our customers’ goods moving.

“Supporting this work now will position us to meet the growing demand for lower carbon logistics and build a transport network that supports our climate goals.”

TransiT is a national research hub focused on decarbonising transport tin the UK, involving eight universities and 70 industry partners.

Emissions from the transport sector contribute a significant proportion of the UK’s overall domestic emissions – around 28 per cent in 2022, the last year for which statistics are available.