SATELLITE COMMUNICATION IN ROAD FREIGHT OPERATIONS: THE METAFORA EXPERIENCE. IN: TRANSPORT LOGISTICS

This paper describes the METAFORA project that was initiated within the second European Community DRIVE program. The project has run demonstration pilots that involve mobile data satellite communications (MDC) and electronic data interchange (EDI) in five European road haulage companies. The goal of the project was to identify the advantages and disadvantages of using Advanced Transport Telematics applications and to quantify their impact as much as possible. Special attention is paid to the needs of small and medium size haulers. This paper's focus is on the MDC trials at three companies based in Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. The paper describes the pilots, the implemented technology, the data sources and collection techniques, the evaluation methodology used, and the financial and socioeconomic cost benefit of the trials.