Rosstandart approved the standards of multimodal transportation: how NCTLP will change the logistics of Russia

The Russian logistics industry continues to move towards digitalization and unification of transport processes. The next step in this direction was the approval by Rosstandart of three national standards in the field of linear multimodal transportation. The new documents should become part of the regulatory and technical framework of the National Digital Transport and Logistics Platform (NCTLP), a large-scale project that is gradually forming a single digital space for transport market participants.

For most companies, this may seem like another regulatory update. However, in practice, we are talking about creating rules that in the future can change the principles of interaction between carriers, cargo owners, freight forwarders, ports, terminals and government agencies.

Why multimodal transportation is becoming more important

Modern logistics is rarely limited to one mode of transport.

Most international and domestic routes are built on a multimodal model, when the cargo is consistently moved by several modes of transport:

• automobile;
• railway;
• marine;
• river
• aviation.

For example, a container can be delivered by truck to a railway terminal, then sent by train to a port, and then reloaded to a sea vessel for international delivery.

Such a scheme allows to significantly expand the geography of supplies, but at the same time increases the complexity of management of the transportation process.

Each stage is accompanied by documents, approvals, data transfer between different participants and the need to control the delivery time.

Digitalization of multimodal logistics is becoming one of the key tasks of the industry.

What's Rosstandart approved?

The new national standards are aimed at forming unified approaches to the organization of linear multimodal transportation and digital exchange of information between market participants.

In fact, the documents provide a framework for carriers, terminal operators, shippers and government systems to operate under uniform data rules.

The main task of the standards is not only to regulate transportation, but also to create a comprehensible digital environment in which information about the cargo can accompany it along the entire route.

This is especially true in the context of growing container traffic and increasing complexity of international logistics.

What is the National Digital Transport and Logistics Platform

NCLTLP is considered one of the largest digital projects of the transport industry in Russia.

Its key goal is to unite market participants into a single information ecosystem.

In the future, the platform should provide:

• digital support of goods;
• exchange of transport documents;
• tracking of transportation in real time;
• interaction between carriers and cargo owners;
• integration with state information systems;
• Reduction of paperwork.

In fact, we are talking about the formation of a digital analogue of the logistics chain, where most of the processes will occur automatically.

For businesses, this means more transparent supply management and lower administrative costs.

What problems do the new standards solve?

One of the main difficulties of multimodal logistics is the lack of common approaches to information exchange.

Even today, participants in the transportation process can use various software solutions, document formats and data transfer methods.

The result is:

• delays in processing information;
• duplication of documents;
• errors in data transmission;
• Difficulties in tracking cargo;
• additional administrative costs.

The new standards should reduce such barriers and ensure a higher level of interoperability between the information systems of different market participants.

Why digitalization is so important now

The logistics industry is undergoing a major transformation.

Over the past few years, business has faced changes in international routes, rising transport costs, restructuring of export-import flows and the need to adapt faster to new conditions.

Against this background, the speed of obtaining information becomes one of the factors of competitiveness.

According to industry studies, a significant part of the delays in logistics is associated not with the physical movement of goods, but with document circulation and coordination of procedures between participants in the transportation.

The faster data moves between systems, the more efficient the entire supply chain is.

How this can affect business

For cargo owners, the introduction of uniform standards means increased transparency of transportation and more convenient access to information about the movement of goods.

For carriers and logistics operators, the advantages can be expressed in reducing the number of manual operations and reducing the cost of processing documents.

The new standards could be particularly important for companies dealing with container shipping, export shipments and complex multimodal routes.

In the future, this will allow:

• accelerate the processing of orders;
• reduce the time of transportation;
• Reduce the number of errors;
• Increase the predictability of logistics;
• Improved control of freight traffic.

What awaits the industry next

The development of NCLTLP and the introduction of new standards are part of a larger process of digital transformation of the transport industry.

Experts expect the market to move towards:

• complete electronic document management;
• automation of logistics operations;
• using artificial intelligence to manage routes;
• expansion of cargo traceability systems;
• Integration of transport and government digital platforms.

As a result, logistics is gradually moving from a model based on paper documents and manual procedures to a single digital transportation management environment.

Outcomes

The approval by Rosstandart of three national standards in the field of linear multimodal transportation is not just another update of the regulatory framework. We are talking about creating fundamental rules for the future of digital logistics in Russia.

The new standards should become an important part of the National Digital Transport and Logistics Platform, increase the compatibility of information systems and simplify interaction between all market participants.

Against the background of increasing traffic volumes, increasing complexity of routes and increasing requirements for data processing speed, such solutions are becoming the basis for the development of modern transport infrastructure of the country.