Physical Internet and Logistics Transportation Systems of the Digital Economy

Abstract

Logistics transportation systems are considered regarding development of the Physical Internet. The Physical Internet is widely defined as an open global logistics system founded on physical, digital, and operational interconnectivity, through encapsulation, interfaces, and protocols, similar to the Digital Internet [1; 2]. It is built based on standardisation of both containers for transportation of goods and the equipment intended for their handling and supply. This allows creating a practically new industry since the shipper does not specify the mode of transport, and the system works on the principles of the Digital Internet, routing containers (analogous to packages of the Digital Internet) and collecting them in the right place at the right time. The concept of the Physical Internet is aimed at implementation of full interconnectedness, in terms of data, information, physical and financial flows, of several networks of freight transportation logistics services, as well as at their readiness to be freely used as a single large logistics network. The seamless physical, digital, and financial interconnection of logistics networks will include transportation, storage, and physical handling of cargo units (containers, demountable bodies, pallets, etc) [3]. In other words, these are physical objects, and that justifies the designation of the entire system as of the Physical Internet. Naturally, such a system inevitably raises the issue of standardising such physical objects (by analogy with standardising Digital Internet packages). Hence, the term of so-called ð-containers appears associated with special unified containers for storage, handling, transportation of material objects within the Physical Internet system. Now, the Physical Internet is not a merely theoretical concept. Its implementation is being carried out in many countries. The first Russian companies have already started promoting this concept as well. The objective of the article is to review the current state of this logistics model in Russia and the world based on the analysis of the literature and practical implementations.