It allows haulage companies to search a database of available freight that needs to be delivered and advertise their available vehicle capacity.
These systems provide a platform that allows carriers to communicate freight traffic information to fellow operators such as transporters, forwarders and logistics companies.
For example, a trucker has an order to transport tulips from Keukenhof in the Netherlands to Como, Italy.
Finding return loads results in improved efficiency for haulage and transport companies as well as helping cut down on empty journeys, which reduces CO2 emissions.
[4] The world's first electronic freight exchange was called Teleroute and was launched in France on the Minitel system in 1985.