Eliminating Empty Running and Finding New Loads: Collaborative Transport for Efficient Logistics
Every day, thousands of trucks travel across European roads with no cargo on board. This phenomenon, known as "empty running" or "empty kilometers," represents one of the most significant challenges to modern logistics efficiency. It is not just a financial loss for the haulier, but a drain on the entire production system. Every kilometer driven without freight equals wasted fuel, unpaid driver time, unnecessary CO2 emissions, and reduced margins for the transport company.
Empty running often stems from a lack of matching between load demand and supply. The delivery point and a potential new load may be too far apart, or a truck may reach its destination without a visible backhaul opportunity. Often, information about new routes arrives too late or is managed through obsolete tools like phone calls, fragmented WhatsApp groups, or occasional contacts.
The Importance of Continuous Load Sourcing for Trucks
For transport companies, securing a continuous flow of routes is essential. It ensures a steady workflow for the carrier. An idle vehicle or one traveling empty heavily impacts operating margins, daily profitability, and long-term business sustainability.
Conversely, a vehicle operating at full capacity—including return trips—spreads fixed costs and improves the company’s competitiveness. However, this is only possible in a truly open and liberalized market where supply and demand meet without artificial barriers.
At a systemic level, efficient matching between available trucks and freight reduces empty running, cuts unnecessary traffic, and lowers the environmental footprint of the logistics sector. This is why load optimization is at the heart of advanced logistics strategies today, especially in a context where every cent and every minute counts.
The Reality of Trip Assignment in the Real World
In daily practice, assigning trips to trucks is still a fragmented process. Many hauliers rely on word-of-mouth and endless phone calls to find a backhaul. Meanwhile, shippers often work only with regular suppliers and lack the tools to quickly verify which vehicles are actually available in their loading area.
This fragmentation generates inefficiency across the entire market. A lack of transparency and the absence of a centralized system make it difficult to optimize trip flows. In many cases, a load available just a few kilometers away goes unnoticed simply because the parties aren't connected. The root problem is that the market is not truly free: informational, geographical, and relational barriers prevent optimal efficiency.
Strategies to Avoid Empty Backhauls: Concrete Optimization Tactics
To avoid empty running, companies must adopt a logic of continuous optimization. The first step is monitoring workflows to identify routes at high risk of empty returns. In parallel, hauliers should use digital tools and online load boards that signal available freight near their delivery destination.
The real breakthrough happens when the principle of market liberalization is embraced. When all operators have access to the same information, without intermediaries controlling the flow, competition becomes transparent and the system becomes truly efficient. This is where collaborative transport comes into play.
Digital Logistics: The Rise of Modern Online Load Boards
Digital platforms are deeply changing how companies organize transport and how carriers find new trips. Online load boards allow users to view transport requests published by shippers or forwarders. Carriers can then bid for the service based on availability, route, cargo type, and vehicle requirements.
Compared to traditional solutions, these platforms offer transparency, speed, and a wider range of opportunities. Carriers can fill their trucks with partial or combined loads (LTL), maximizing their daily yield. Shippers, in turn, can find vehicles already in the area, reducing lead times and logistics costs. However, not all platforms are equal—many charge commissions or create new forms of intermediation. True progress only occurs when the market is completely open and free.
Truckscanner: The Open Marketplace for Collaborative Transport
In this digital evolution, Truckscanner stands out as one of the most innovative solutions for the freight industry. It is a completely free platform that directly connects carriers and shippers with no commissions, no subscriptions, and an easy-to-use interface.
What truly distinguishes Truckscanner is its philosophy: total market liberalization. We believe that when a market is truly open, without artificial barriers between supply and demand, true efficiency is achieved. Market laws—competition, price transparency, and freedom of choice—can finally operate at their best.
With Truckscanner, every verified carrier can access every available opportunity without filters or limitations. Shippers can publish a load in seconds and receive proposals from all interested carriers. There are no middlemen controlling the flows, no hidden fees: just a free and transparent market.
The Benefits of Liberalization for Carriers
When the market is open, carriers can finally compete on a level playing field. They no longer need to rely on intermediaries or "who they know." With Truckscanner, they can simply log in from any device to see all available opportunities. Direct communication with the shipper via chat reduces misunderstandings and speeds up operations.
Most importantly, fair and transparent competition leads to fairer pricing for everyone. It’s no longer the carrier with the "right connections" who gets the best loads, but the one who offers the best service at the most competitive price. This is collaborative transport: a system where everyone contributes to overall efficiency.
Benefits for Shippers in a Liberalized Market
For companies looking for transport, market liberalization brings concrete advantages. When a load is ready, the platform allows access to the entire available market, not just a few regular suppliers. Publication is free, immediate, and non-binding.
In a truly open market, shippers can compare multiple offers and choose based on price, reliability, and timing. This approach reduces waiting times, cuts out brokerage costs, and increases operational flexibility. It is particularly valuable for manufacturers, warehouses, forwarders, and logistics centers that need to move goods dynamically.
Collaborative Transport: A New Paradigm for Logistics
Collaborative transport doesn't mean eliminating competition; it means creating an ecosystem where everyone benefits. When a haulier avoids empty running thanks to Truckscanner, they improve their margins and reduce systemic emissions. When a shipper finds a carrier quickly, they save time and boost overall market efficiency.
This is a core value of Truckscanner: liberalization as a tool for collective efficiency. We believe an open, transparent, and accessible market is the key to a more sustainable and fairer logistics industry. When there are no artificial barriers, everyone wins: carriers, shippers, final consumers, and the environment.
Join the Collaborative Transport Movement
Change in the logistics world happens through the active participation of every operator. Every carrier and shipper using Truckscanner helps make the market more efficient. This is a natural evolution toward a system where empty running is the exception, not the rule.
Visit truckscanner.it and discover how collaborative transport can transform your business. Together, we can eliminate empty kilometers and build a more efficient logistics future for everyone.
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