With MATCH2RAIL you get a turnkey solution to learn about the potential of combined transport (CT) for your door-to-door freight. By uploading your current and planned flows, MATCH2RAIL aligns these with current capabilities published by various CT operators and forwarders across Europe. This allows you to conveniently identify the potential of shifting your loads from road to rail, based on your specific parameters (e.g. transit time). In addition, your flows are being bundled to ‘virtual trains’ in case no attractive CT service is (yet) available.
By providing your capabilities, we can match your services with shipper flows and identify feasible matches. Thus, you can become visible to shippers who want to shift their freight from road to rail. Providing your capabilities is easy: just upload your current services (terminal to terminal connections incl. first and last mile trucking), using an MS Excel template file. Once uploaded to the M2R platform, you can conveniently edit or update your network capabilities.
MATCH2RAIL continuously aligns and matches provided freight flows from shippers with services stated by combined transport forwarders. This is based on the parameters defined by the shipper and the capabilities stated by the CT forwarder in the MATCH2RAIL platform. Shippers are notified about a successful match and receive details about the respective CT forwarder(s).
We notify shipper about all feasible matches with services that have been stated by CT forwarders. This is based on the parameters defined by the shipper and the capabilities stated by the CT forwarder in the MATCH2RAIL platform. Thus, all forwarders are being treated equally. MATCH2RAIL is a neutral platform and does not give any recommendation to shippers, but leaves the shipper to decide which CT forwarder(s) to contact on a feasible match.
MATCH2RAIL does not intend to compete with intermodal operators and freight forwarders in combined transport. Primarily, MATCH2RAIL is intended for shippers and LSPs who are not using rail freight today. MATCH2RAIL allows to create viable scenarios to shift additional flows from road to rail. In doing so, MATCH2RAIL needs established intermodal operators and freight forwarders in the market, who can expand existing lines or build new ones based on these additional transport volumes.
In case no attractive combined transport service does yet exist, we are consolidating and bundling various flows provided by different shippers. Once the critical mass for a new connection (‘virtual train’) is reached, we seek to introduce a new service for this route. Thus, we are expanding demand for new combined transport services which consequently creates more attractive offers on the market.
The minimum shipment size is a single full truck load (FTL). This can be stated in different loading unit types, e.g. semi-trailer, swap body, ISO container, etc.
MATCH2RAIL covers all countries within Europe, including Turkey.
No. MATCH2RAIL is a neutral platform and leaves it with the shipper to decide which CT forwarder(s) to contact on a successful match. Thus, MATCH2RAIL is not involved in any further exchange between shipper and CT forwarder regarding quotation, pricing, terms and conditions, etc.
Combined transport is intermodal transport where the major part of the European journey is by rail, inland waterways or sea and any initial and/or final legs carried out by road are as short as possible.
The Match2Rail (M2R) service has been co-developed by the supply chain collaboration experts digi-trust.EU and the modal shift initative shift2030. The contractual party for the M2R service is digi-trust.EU B.V.
The matching platform is GDPR compliant. All data is stored on servers located in the EU. All shipper ID’s on the M2R platform are assigned an anonymous random shipper code at registration. Shipper identity is known only to the neutral trustees and will only be shared with the express written consent of the shipper.
