Optimizing trucking logistics with an automated cargo carousel for Circular Supply Chains Inc.
Combining deliveries and return pickups in a single trailer to improve transportation efficiency and reduce unnecessary trips
Colleen McCann and Cris Pop, SMART Centre
About Circular Supply Chains Inc.
Circular Supply Chains Inc. partnered with Conestoga’s SMART Centre to develop a cargo management system that could help address inefficiencies in traditional trucking logistics. The project combined the company’s logistics expertise with the SMART Centre’s design and engineering capabilities.
The challenge
Delivery and backhaul operations are often completed separately, requiring additional trips to transport returned merchandise or other goods. The project explored how a single trailer could accommodate both activities, maximizing available transportation capacity while reducing unnecessary travel and associated carbon emissions.
Approach
- Used the banana distribution supply chain as a test case
- Designed a circular cargo carousel for a 53-foot refrigerated high-cube trailer
- Developed modules that could be indexed to the trailer doors for unloading and loading
- Built and tested a functional prototype of the carousel system
- Connected the physical system with a web application for monitoring and tracking merchandise
Results
- Delivered a functional cargo carousel prototype
- Demonstrated the system’s ability to index individual cargo modules
- Enabled deliveries and returned merchandise to be accommodated within the same system
- Integrated physical equipment with a digital tracking application
- Enabled merchandise within individual modules to be monitored, logged, and tracked
Why it matters
- Maximizes the use of available trailer capacity
- Creates opportunities to combine deliveries and backhauls
- Could reduce unnecessary transportation trips and associated emissions
- Improves visibility into merchandise during transportation
- Demonstrates an innovative approach to more efficient and sustainable supply chains