LHOFT - Liverpool - Humber Optimisation of Freight Transport

A major cargo owner, two port operators, and rail experts are building a computer model to shift long-distance freight off UK roads and onto ships and trains running between the Mersey and the Humber. The problem is that most container traffic entering the UK through southern ports then travels hundreds of miles north by lorry, clogging motorways and adding cost and emissions. Northern ports have spare capacity, but cargo owners avoid them because setting up new sea or rail services is risky when no single company can guarantee enough volume to fill a ship or train. The project tackles that risk barrier directly. The University of Hull’s Logistics Institute will develop technology that lets multiple cargo owners pool their freight volumes, making new services financially viable. The model will target ferry routes to Europe and all container flows whose origin or destination lies along the M62 corridor. If successful, the research could shift thousands of lorry journeys each year from road to rail and sea, cutting freight miles, reducing congestion, and lowering carbon emissions. It would also strengthen the economic case for using northern ports, rebalancing freight traffic away from the overburdened south.