Majority of Logistics Companies Use Digital Freight Documents

Since April of this year, the electronic freight document has been available in Germany – and the majority of logistics companies (77 percent) are already using it. However, only one in twenty companies (5 percent) relies exclusively on the digital version of the delivery document and has completely abandoned the paper form.

(Berlin) 31 percent predominantly use e-freight documents, but most (41 percent) use them only occasionally or partially. This is shown by a representative survey commissioned by the Digital Association Bitkom of more than 400 logistics companies in Germany. According to the survey, six percent plan to introduce digital freight documents in the next twelve months, while seven percent are considering this for the next one to two years. Another seven percent do not want to digitize their freight documents. About half of the companies (47 percent) advocate that the use of digital freight documents should be mandatory. “We see that the e-freight document is widely accepted in the industry. Replacing paper-based documents with machine-readable freight documents avoids unnecessary manual tasks, media disruptions, and transmission errors, making life easier not only for logistics companies but ultimately benefiting customers as well,” says Nathalie Teer, Mobility and Logistics Advisor at Bitkom.

Great Relief for the Industry

85 percent of companies see the introduction of digital freight documents as a significant relief for the logistics industry, with even 96 percent among larger companies with 100 or more employees. The majority of companies also state that the use of digital freight documents accelerates information exchange (74 percent), makes supply chains more transparent (71 percent), and reduces costs (64 percent). However, 59 percent view the introduction as a major challenge. 46 percent say that the industry lacks the know-how for a quick implementation. 54 percent say that standards are still missing for efficient use.

Photo: © Loginfo24

Graphic: © bitkom