Temporal Shifts in Freight Traffic: Estimating the Potential to Improve Traffic Quality on German Highways with Temporal Shifts of Heavy Traffic

Abstract

In the years ahead, the problems of increasing capacity constraints on German roads will increase due to the expected growth of road freight transport. Temporal shift of freight transport may be suitable for a more efficient use of existing infrastructure. This chapter analyses the theoretical potential for a temporal shift of truck traffic by taking the example of selected highway sections in the German Region Frankfurt RheinMain. The analysis shows that peak loads in truck traffic are considerably weaker than in passenger car traffic. One reason is a higher efficiency in truck traffic compared to passenger car traffic. Furthermore, the observed proportion of trucks during peak loads of total traffic is usually below 12 %. The expected contribution of temporal shift of truck trips to avoid congestion is rather low; therefore, possibilities for temporal shift of traffic in peak loads must be primarily searched in passenger car traffic. Opportunities for temporal shifts of truck traffic may result from changes of production and logistics processes, which enable increased transport by night.