The Role of the Freight Exchange in Knowledge Management of the Logistics Company

Abstract

The growing importance of digitization of economic processes forces logistics companies to use modern technologies. This is a trend visible throughout the economy which has a significant impact on the logistics industry. The amount of processed information is constantly increasing and managing it is becoming a growing challenge. Freight exchanges are an integral component of the functioning of transport companies dealing with transportation of goods. This primarily applies to road transport, which constitutes the largest share in European transport. The use and role of freight exchanges are constantly growing. These are tools that enable obtaining information about cargo and transport services which is used in planning transport processes of logistics companies.  The activities of logistics companies involve constantly acquiring information about potential customers. Transport processes require careful preparation and detailed planning of all activities performed during the transport of cargo. The dynamics of the logistics market do not always allow the full use of cargo space in vehicles, which is associated with a decrease in transport efficiency and thus a reduction in companies’ profits. Therefore, the knowledge about additional loads, due to which companies will be able to fill empty cargo spaces or entire empty runs, is necessary. This is of great importance for companies from the SME sector, which often must compete on the market with large entities. Transport exchanges are, by definition, a valuable source of information on the basis of which the internal knowledge base is created, which also requires appropriate management.The authors conducted the research among small and medium-sized transport companies both nationwide and with international reach in Poland. This research was aimed at identifying the features and demonstrating the role of freight exchanges as a source of knowledge for enterprises. The process of planning the transport process was analyzed for the variant with and without the use of the freight exchange. A decision-making algorithm was defined, the task of which is to structure and organize knowledge in the field of the transport process preparation. The importance of digital tools in knowledge management was also emphasized.