Trade imbalances leave empty containers where imports end and short where exports begin. CARGO-E decides which source supplies each empty-container need: an importer nearby, a depot or a port. Quantities and intermodal routes are set in the same plan, at the lowest total cost within your stock and carrier contracts.
Our algorithms decide, AI operates. Our optimization algorithms choose every source, quantity and route. Our AI planner operates them as an expert user would: it runs them again as bookings and arrivals change, compares what-if scenarios and recommends the plan that best meets your KPIs.
Request a demoEmpty containers carry no cargo, yet every move uses lanes, carriers and contract volume. CARGO-E reuses empty containers inland wherever the network allows and routes the rest at the lowest total cost.
Imports empty out at inland importers, exports need empty containers at inland exporters, and the two seldom match in place, time or type. Across a network, hundreds of thousands of empty moves a year connect importers, exporters, depots and ports, and each of these moves costs freight without carrying cargo.
A need can be met only with empty containers of the right type and size, available on time, from the sources allowed for that destination, over lanes with capacity left and within carrier contracts. Each need still keeps many valid sources, each at a different cost.
Stock of empty containers changes all the time: imports refill it, exporters draw it down. Where it runs out, the next needs are supplied from farther away, so the best source for one need depends on the sources chosen for all the others.
Every empty move is four decisions: the source, the destination, the route and the quantity, by container type and week. Hundreds of thousands of moves a year share the same stock, lanes and carrier contracts, so each decision changes the options left for the others.
CARGO-E decides the source, the destination, the route and the quantity of every empty move in one optimization, at the lowest total cost within stock, container types, availability, lane capacity and carrier contracts. Bookings, arrivals and lane conditions change every day. Our AI planner operates CARGO-E as an expert user would: each day it runs our optimization algorithms on the latest information, compares what-if scenarios and recommends the plan that best meets your KPIs.
When the origin and the destination of an empty move are already set, CARGO routes the empty containers like imports and exports, on the same network and within the same contracts.
When only the destination, the quantity and the container type are known, CARGO-E chooses the sources, the quantity from each source and the routes, as one plan for all needs.
CARGO-E reads where empty containers are available and where they are needed, and returns the source, the quantity and the route of each empty move.
| Container | Needed at | Supplied from | Route | Carrier | Cost |
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Share your empty-container needs, your stock and your network for a representative period; we will walk you through where the containers come from and what the plan costs.
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