Antecedents, mechanisms and effects of synchromodal freight transport: a conceptual framework from a systematic literature review

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-10-2020-0400
• Published date: 14 December 2021
• Date: 14 December 2021
• Pages: 190-213
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics
• Author: Sarah Pfoser,Herbert Kotzab,Ilja Bäumler

Antecedents, mechanisms and

effects of synchromodal freight

transport: a conceptual framework

from a systematic literature review

Sarah Pfoser

Logistikum Steyr, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Wels, Austria, and

Herbert Kotzab and Ilja B€

aumler

University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

Abstract

Purpose –The aim of this paper is to offer an overview of the current state of research in a specific field of

transport, namely synchromodality. This includes a conceptual discussion of this innovative transport concept

to differentiate it from previous concepts as well as the identification of the antecedents, mechanisms and

effects of synchromodality.

Design/methodology/approach –The paper combines systematic and content analysis-based approaches

to literature review to analyse and synthesise a final sample of 88 publications related to synchromodality.

Findings –Synchromodality is a transport concept in its infancy which suffers from ambiguous definitions

and a lack of theoretical grounding. The paper identifies four mechanisms which differentiate synchromodality

from other transport concepts: real-time switching, integrated network planning, horizontal collaboration and

mode-free booking. Seven technical and six managerial antecedents for these mechanisms of synchromodality

are defined.

Research limitations/implications –Existing research on synchromodality is largely focused on technical

antecedents (e.g. information and communication technology, sophisticated planning systems). Suggestions

for further research include managerial problems such as business models or measures to induce a mental shift

and trust.

Originality/value –This paper gives a structured overview of the research field of synchromodality and

presents existing research from a content-focused perspective. It also indicates opportunities for future

research and contributes to a generally accepted understanding of synchromodality.

Keywords Synchromodality, Sustainable freight transport, Multimodal transport, Intermodal transport,

Modal shift

Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction

By 2050, the EU economy is climate neutral and in order to achieve this stage of net-zero

greenhouse gas emissions all societal as well as economic sectors including industry,

agriculture and also transportation have to contribute to the accomplishment of this goal

(European Commission, 2021).

Transport is a vital link for globally organised supply chains and an essential economic

sector for many countries in the world. Despite its importance for the effective and efficient

execution of complex and globally organised supply chains, transport causes external costs

which mainly relate to air pollution, noise, accidents and greenhouse gas emissions (Demir et

al., 2015). As Kodjak (2021) points out, there is a need for a strategy to decarbonise the

transport sector by reducing black carbon emissions, developing zero-emission technologies

and by progressing on energy efficiency. This is going to be a huge challenge, as recent

IJLM

33,1

190

This research is part of the research field ‘sustainable transport systems’which was funded by the State

of Upper Austria as part of the research program ‘FTI Struktur Land Ober€

osterreich’.

Received 3 November 2020

Revised 2 June 2021

31 October 2021

Accepted 1 November 2021

The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 33 No. 1, 2022

pp. 190-213

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-10-2020-0400

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/0957-4093.htm

decades have seen steadily increasing transport volumes, prompting the development of new

transport concepts intended to tackle the aforementioned problems. The latest available data

at the EU level shows that a third of the final energy consumption and nearly a quarter of all

greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the transport sector (DG MOVE, 2019). A modal shift

towards sustainable transport modes is hereby often mentioned as an efficient strategy to

enhance the performance of freight transport, and it is also supported by political strategies in

Europe (European Commission, 2011). The modal shift represents a possible solution to

tackle the negative environmental impact of transport and in the past, a number of concepts –

including multimodal transport, intermodal transport and combined transport –have been

proposed to induce such a modal shift (Reis, 2015). The EU suggests the increased use of these

concepts to make transport more sustainable (European Commission, 2020). Nevertheless, the

modal split has, for many years, remained unchanged (Behdani et al., 2016), and road

transport by trucks is still the preferred solution due to its greater flexibility and reliability

(Flod

en et al., 2017). Today, progress in digitalising more and more production and logistics

processes, also known as Industry 4.0, may offer a new opportunity to increase the

attractiveness of alternative transport solutions by integrating the various transport actors

and allowing a flexible change of transport modes and means (see Obermaier, 2019 or

Fenollar Solvay, 2019). This would contribute to a further decarbonisation of the European

transport industry (see Punte et al., 2019). Such an approach, which aims at highly integrate

transport modes and actors on a horizontal as well as vertical level, is characterised by

Karimpour and Bellini (2018) as synchromodality. This concept is recommended by the

Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe (ALICE; Punte et al., 2019)

for its smart use and combination of transport modes as an innovative way to increase the

share of sustainable modes (see also Zijm and Klumpp, 2016). Lu (2014) refers to Dutch policy

documents –published in 2010 –as the first mention of synchromodality as a new transport

strategy. The basic conception of synchromodality entails an integrated view of freight

transport, including and combining all available transport modes in a highly flexible way (Lu,

2014). Horizontal as well as vertical collaboration among network partners is the key for the

integrated view, but is currently restricted by antitrust laws and barriers to entry. Due to

horizontal collaboration, the shift between transport modes can take place in real-time

conditions, which allows adapting transport solutions to changes and disruptions more easily

(Agamez-Arias and Moyano-Fuentes, 2017).

Taking all of these developments into account, we recognise a need to develop a clear

distinction of synchromodal freight transport to determine how this concept differs from

other freight transport concepts. Furthermore, we aim to identify mechanisms and

antecedents that enable synch romodality by conceptualisin g a theoretical frame of

reference. This is done by means of a systematic literature review. In achieving these

aims, we answer the following research questions:

(1) How does synchromodality differ from previous freight transport concepts?

(2) What are the antecedents, mechanisms and effects that allow conceptualising

synchromodality?

Based on the results of our systematic literature review, we will also be able to identify

research gaps that need to be addressed by future research. This is addressed by our third

research question:

(3) What areas within the field of research on synchromodality offer opportunities for

future research?

The theoretical contribution of this paper is three-fold. First, we demonstrate the advantages

that synchromodality offers over previous transport concepts, indicating that this concept

Synchromodal

freight

transport

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