Digital intermodal booking portal “modility” online: ECL is a development partner

The booking and brokerage portal for intermodal transport “modility” - a spin-off from Hamburg port operator HHLA - has started its pilot phase. It is now available at modility.com and is ready for use by the market. On the online marketplace, intermodal operators have the opportunity to offer freight forwarders free transport capacities in a clear and easily accessible manner as those can then be booked directly online. Modility is intended to simplify access to combined freight transport as a climate-friendly transport alternative. Use of the portal is generally free of charge; a fee applies only for successfully arranged transports. Freight forwarders can use modility to quickly and easily plan combined transports including pre- and on-carriage. On the other hand, intermodal operators can market their shuttle trains and networks online with little effort, thereby increasing their customer reach.

Modility was developed in cooperation and close coordination with 12 different development partners. ECL GmbH is proud to be one of them. The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) also supports the project as part of the 'Future Rail Freight Transport' funding program. Hendrik Eichentopf, CEO of modility, said about the start of the project:

“Together with market participants and development partners such as ECL GmbH, we are developing a simple entry point for combined transport with modility, in which we combine the demand for environmentally friendly transport solutions with the free train capacities of the CT operators. In this way, we are making it easier for companies to access CO2-efficient intermodal transports and ensuring that the European rail infrastructure can be used even more effectively.”

The successful cooperation and close networking between modility and its development partners such as ECL GmbH has resulted in the platform taking into account the requirements and interests of all parties involved. Tobias Behncke, Head of Intermodal Transport at ECL:

“Intermodal transport is a particularly powerful and environmentally friendly transport system. With modility, we now have an additional online sales channel with which we can open up completely new markets and further increase the utilization of individual connections and our entire network. The very user-friendly connection search and the uncomplicated booking process allow the market easy access to our services and quick and individual processing. In addition, as a development partner, we were able to directly influence the development phase of modility with our experience.”

In the future, too, ECL GmbH will support modility in the optimization process with advice and action as well as regular feedback on operations. All involved parties are looking forward to a successful and positive collaboration that will raise environmentally friendly intermodal transport to a new level of digitization and usability.