WO2014203025A1

WO2014203025A1 - Distribution system and method for transporting parcels or piece goods

Info

Publication number: WO2014203025A1
Application number: PCT/IB2013/054949
Authority: WO
Inventors: Heine BLACH JENSEN
Original assignee: Safe Green Logistic A/S
Priority date: 2013-06-17
Filing date: 2013-06-17
Publication date: 2014-12-24
Also published as: EP3010657A1; EP3010657C0; EP3010657B1

Abstract

The invention pertains to distribution system for transporting parcels or piece goods, the system comprising: a hub, a plurality of nodes logistically connected to the hub via at least one standard railway route, a plurality of railway freight cars for transporting the parcels or piece goods in standard shipping containers from the hub to at least some of the nodes along said at least one standard railway route, and a plurality of trucks, each picking up a container at a specific node and delivering the parcels or piece goods to recipients along a logistically optimized route within an pre-defined area associated with the specific node, wherein each of said trucks comprises first transfer means for transferring a standard shipping container between a freight car and the truck itself. The invention also pertains to a method of distributing parcels or piece goods.

Description

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSPORTING PARCELS OR PIECE GOODS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention pertains to a distribution system and a method for the transportation of cargo, in particular parcels or other piece goods.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Several parcel distribution systems are known up to date. For example in W09527571 a method of distributing parcels or other piece goods for delivery to addresses scattered throughout a supra-regional distribution system is disclosed. The parcels are assembled at one of a plurality of depots and forwarded to distribution points, from where they are delivered to the addressee by vehicle delivery rounds. In order to make the method more cost-effective and more rapid, the parcels are grouped in delivery- round assemblies when they are taken to the depot, and placed in a particular order corresponding to the course of a delivery round and brought in this order to the distribution points and placed in the vehicles. The container for carrying out the method is designed as a vehicle unit load with at least one closable access opening and prefera- bly with internal shelves enabling parcels to be positioned in the correct order.

Also within the mail handling industry, methods of automating and streamlining the mail and parcel handling have been developed. For example in WO0000300 a method and a system for automatically or semi-automatically processing postal items are dis- closed. According to this method, the items are conveyed along a first system for capturing a first address signal from address identification means, such as a bar code, a printed or written address block or a radio frequency tag, optionally provided on the items. The address signal is then processed in order to determine whether or not it is sufficient in order to automatically sort and distribute the item, and a further address signal may be derived. The items are sorted according to their respective address signals. OCR and/or video equipment may be applied for capturing identification data, and a cross-belt or tilt-tray conveyor system may be applied for sorting the items.

In US2005/131645A is disclosed an automatic-transport system with scanning and GPS functions for moving people or objects on platforms, or items placed on an automatic-transport system, which can be ejected from it, and delivered from one location to another and returned automatically, or can proceed to other destinations by following GPS coordinates, or can follow a line painted or taped to a floor through forward looking scanners built into the automatic-transport system. The automatic-transport system can arrive at a destination and give an alert when it has arrived. Electrome- chanical system(s) aboard the unit can drop off contents automatically at destinations and load or unload cargo. The transport unit can proceed from one location to another stored in its memory and/or it may be redirected by its circuitry or remotely through a wireless port, or directed by GPS or radio control circuits to a further destination. From the applicant's own prior published patent application WO 2010/064060 is known a hub and spoke logistic system, wherein a first set of trucks is used to transport parcels between the nodes and the hub, and a second set of trucks is used to distribute the parcels to the end users within a fixed route area associated with a particular node. Although this system benefits from the hub and spoke topology, wherein n nodes can be connected by n-1 routes, the system suffers from the severe drawbacks of using trucks throughout the entire system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for transporting parcels of piece goods, which is environmentally friendly, cost effective, and which at average would not lead to any time delays exceeding those known in traditional hub and spoke-based truck transport systems. According to the present invention, the above-mentioned and other objects are fulfilled by a distribution system for transporting parcels or piece goods, the system comprising:

- a hub,

- a plurality of nodes logistically connected to the hub via at least one standard railway route,

- a plurality of railway freight cars for transporting the parcels or piece goods in standard shipping containers from the hub to at least some of the nodes along said at least one standard railway route, and

- a plurality of trucks, each picking up a container at a specific node and delivering the parcels or piece goods to recipients along a logistically optimized route within an predefined area associated with the specific node, wherein each of said trucks comprises first transfer means for transferring a standard shipping container between a freight car and the truck itself.

Throughout the present patent specification the terms "shipping container" or "stand- ard shipping container" or simply "container" are used interchangeably. By this is meant what is commonly called an intermodal container, freight container, ISO container or shipping container. In essence, it is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system. "Intermodal" indicates that the container can be moved from one mode of transport to another (from ship to rail to truck) without unloading and reloading the contents of the containers, each of which has a unique ISO 6346 reporting mark. The container capacity is often expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) which is a unit of capacity equal to one standard 20 ft * 8 ft (6.10 m ^χ 2.44 m) (length ^χ width) container.

A typical container has doors fitted at one end, and is constructed of corrugated weathering steel. The containers are typically 8 feet (2.44 m) wide by 8 feet (2.44 m) high, and either a nominal 20 feet (6.1 m) or 40 feet (12.19 m) long. They could be stacked up to seven units high. At each of the eight corners are castings with openings for twistlock fasteners.

The "pallet wide" containers are about 2 inches (5 cm) wider than standard containers to accommodate for Euro-pallets, which are common in Europe. These containers feature an internal width of 2440 mm for easy loading of two 1200 mm long pallets side by side.

By a freight car is meant a railway wagon configured to transport a standard shipping container. These freight cars could also be ordinary flat cars equipped with twistlocks accommodated to lock the containers to it.

The hub-and-spoke model is most frequently compared to the point-to-point transit model.

For a network of n nodes, only n - 1 routes are necessary to connect all nodes; that is, the upper bound is n - 1 , and the complexity is 0(n). This compares favorably to the n(n ~ 1)

2 routes, or 0(n²), which would be required to connect each node to every other node in a point-to-point network. For example, in a system with 10 destinations, the spoke-hub system requires only 9 routes to connect all destinations, while a true point-to-point system would require 45 routes. The small number of routes generally leads to more efficient use of transportation resources. Complicated operations, such as package sorting and accounting, can be carried out at the hub, rather than at every node. Spokes are simple, and new ones can be created easily.

According to the invention, a node is the local station, where the trucks receive and deliver the containers from and to the freight cars, and since the nodes and the hub are logistically interconnected via railway only, a considerable reduction of the transportation costs may be achieved - also as compared to prior art hub and spoke systems wherein trucks are used to transport the parcels or piece goods between the hub and nodes in the system. The system according to the invention therefore significantly reduces the number of trucks on the roads, because one single freight train can cover a large area and carry several freight cars, e.g. 10 or 60 freight cars, with containers. As a normal standard in Denmark, one freight train will carry 44 containers standard 40 foot ISO containers, and therefore keep 44 trucks away from the public roads for each roundtrip. If a full scale system according to the invention is implemented in Denmark with one central hub and a number of suitably chosen nodes, it is estimated that the current transportation needs in Denmark may be fulfilled with 12 freight trains each carrying 44 containers, each freight train doing 4 daily trips between the hub and the nodes, which leads to the daily elimination of 21 12 trucks. This huge number of trucks being eliminated will significantly reduce the pressure on the infrastructure in Denmark as well as lead to a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emission.

Furthermore, since all the trucks in the inventive system are equipped with means for transferring the containers to and from the freight cars, the nodes in the system do not need to be equipped with cranes or other known systems for transferring containers between freight cars and trucks. Essentially, what is needed is only a maneuverable road next to the railway track for the truck to drive on, i.e. no local freight centrals are needed in the system according to the invention. Hence, the nodes according to the inventive system may be raised at a rather low cost, and new nodes may be added easily without high costs or the necessity of building extensive and environmentally detrimental facilities, while existing nodes may be deleted without considerable costs and with little impact on the surrounding environment. Therefore, the system according to the invention is highly flexible with regard to meeting changing demand and supply in different geographical regions covered by the system according to the invention.

Accordingly, it is seen that the system according to the invention combines the better of two worlds: the flexibility of using trucks to reach the end customer/client and the environmental friendliness and cost efficiency of railway transport, without leading to an increase in the delivery time as compared to known hub and spoke-based distribution systems utilizing trucks alone. Furthermore, the freight train can be set to run on the railway tracks at time slots, which are cheapest to use and which interfere as little as possible with passenger traffic (which almost always is given higher priority than freight trains) as possible, e.g. in the late evening and night time. Since the nodes in the system will be logistically connected to the hub via railway transport alone, the inventive system will dramatically reduce the number of trucks (heavy traffic) on the roads, and the associated reduction in carbon dioxide emission will be greatly reduced.

According to an embodiment of the distribution system, the hub comprises a parcel or piece goods management facility for loading and unloading the standard shipping containers, a stationary container transport system for transporting the containers to and from the parcel or piece goods management facility, second transfer means for transferring the shipping containers between the plurality of railway freight cars and the stationary container transport system. Hereby the sorting of the incoming, un- sorted parcels or piece goods may be done at the parcel or piece goods management facility only, and all other handling of said parcels or piece goods may be done on a container by container basis.

According to a preferred embodiment of the distribution system, the first transfer means are configured for transferring the shipping containers between the railway freight cars and the trucks, laterally and substantially horizontally. Hereby is achieved that the installation of heavy and bulky cranes on the trucks is avoided, which again implies that smaller and thereby more energy-efficient trucks may be used in the system according to the invention. Furthermore, this mode of moving the containers between the trucks and freight cars is safer than the application of cranes, and may be performed by one operator alone - the driver of the truck. According to a further preferred embodiment of the distribution system, the second transfer means are configured for transferring the shipping containers between the plurality of railway freight cars and the stationary container transport system, laterally and substantially horizontally. Hereby is achieved that there is no need for installing bulky and expensive cranes at the hub in order to move the containers between the freight cars and the parcel and piece goods management facility, wherein unsorted parcels or piece goods are unloaded from containers and sorted parcels or piece goods are loaded into the containers in order before returning them to the same or another freight car.

The parcel or piece goods management facility may according to a preferred embodiment comprise:

- conveyor means having entry and exit points to receive and dispatch parcels or piece goods at respective ends thereof,

- scanning means to identify incoming parcels or piece goods at an entry point and to direct them to a specific exit point, and

- computer processing means for receiving, storing and processing input data of received parcels or piece goods in order to provide processed data defining pertinent exit point, pertinent shipping container, and the order of loading of each parcel or piece goods in the container based on the logistically optimized route within the pre-defined area of subsequent distribution.

Since the logistically optimized route within the pre-defined area of subsequent distribution is calculated before the parcels or pieces goods are loaded into the containers, they can consequently be stacked as conveniently and optimally as possible within the individual container for the next dispatch, which will usually be conducted the following day. The truck driver, who picks up the container at one of the nodes, will not be required to care about how the parcels or piece goods are stacked, and can therefore concentrate on the route of delivery.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the distribution system, the first and second transfer means are identical. This has the advantage that the containers may be configures to operate with respect to only one kind of transfer mechanism. According to a further preferred embodiment of the distribution system, the stationary container transport system comprises means for transporting the shipping containers in a direction along the longitudinal extension of said container, and in a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal extension of the containers. Preferably, the stationary container transport system comprises means for transporting the shipping containers in only two directions relative to the containers: a direction along the longitudinal ex- tension of said container, and a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal extension of the containers.

According to a further embodiment of the distribution system, the second transfer means are placed on designated transfer wagons, and preferably a number of transfer wagons forms part of the system, e.g. between 4 and 10 transfer wagons. Hereby the containers can be transferred from the freight cars rather quickly as compared to traditional freight terminals, wherein cranes are deployed and used to move one container at the time. According to a further preferred embodiment of the distribution system, each of the shipping containers is equipped with a frame at the bottom, said frame comprising means configured for cooperating with the first transfer means. Preferably, each of the shipping containers is equipped with a frame at the bottom, said frame comprising means configured for cooperating with the first and second transfer means. According to a further embodiment of the distribution system, the frame forms an integral part of the bottom part of the shipping containers. According to an alternative embodiment of the distribution system, the frame is releasably attached to the shipping containers.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the distribution system, the trucks are electrically powered trucks. The electrical power could be supplied from renewable energy resources, such as wind energy. Hereby a further reduction of use of fossil fuel and the associated carbon dioxide emission is achieved.

The above-mentioned and further objects are achieved by a method of distributing parcels or piece goods, the method comprising the steps of:

- providing a hub,

- providing a plurality of nodes logistically connected to the hub via at least one standard railway route,

- transporting the parcels or piece goods in standard shipping containers placed on a plurality of railway freight cars from the hub to at least some of the nodes along said at least one standard railway route, and - providing a plurality of trucks, each picking up a container at a specific node and delivering the parcels or piece goods to recipients along a logistically optimized route within an pre-defined area associated with the specific node, wherein each of said trucks comprises first transfer means for transferring a standard shipping container between a freight car and the truck itself.

The method may according to an embodiment further comprise the steps of.

- using second transfer means for transferring the containers to and from the freight cars and a stationary container transport system placed at the hub, and

- transporting the shipping containers on the stationary container transport system to and from a parcel or piece goods management facility for loading and unloading the shipping containers,

In a further embodiment, the method may further comprise the steps of:

- unloading the parcels or piece goods from the shipping containers at entry points of the parcel or piece goods management facility,

- transporting the parcels or piece goods on conveyor means within the parcel or piece goods management facility,

- loading the parcels or piece goods in the shipping containers at exit points of the par- eel or piece goods management facility,

- scanning the incoming parcels or piece goods at an entry point and directing them to a specific exit point, and

- receiving, storing and processing input data of received parcels or piece goods by computer processing means in order to provide processed data defining pertinent exit points, pertinent shipping containers, and the order of loading of each parcel or piece goods in the container based on the logistically optimized route within the pre-defined area of subsequent distribution.

In a further embodiment, the method may further comprise the steps of:

- receiving parcels or piece goods by the trucks on their return trip to the nodes for distribution to end clients, and

- collection of at least recipient data for each of the parcels or piece goods by the computer processing means, wherein said recipient data are entered on a webpage, said webpage being operatively connected to said computer processing means. In a further embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of collecting physical data for each of the parcels or piece goods by the computer processing means, wherein said data are entered on said webpage, said webpage being operatively connected to said computer processing means.

In a further embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of transferring the containers with return parcels or piece goods on the trucks to the freight cars at the respective nodes, with which the individual trucks are associated, In a further embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of issuing a complete route plan to each of the trucks, said plan comprising the stops along said route and data on the parcels to deliver and/or pick up.

In a further embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of transferring the shipping containers between the railway freight car and the truck, laterally and substantially horizontally by the first transfer means.

In a further embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of transferring the shipping containers between the plurality of railway freight cars and the stationary container transport system, laterally and substantially horizontally by the second transfer means.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the first and second transfer means are identical.

In a further embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of transporting the shipping containers on the stationary container transport system, said transporting step further comprising the sub step of transporting the shipping containers in a direction along the longitudinal extension of said container, and in a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal extension of the containers.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the step of transporting the shipping containers on the stationary container transport system comprises the sub step of transporting the shipping containers in only two directions relative to the container: a direction along the longitudinal extension of said container, and a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal extension of the containers. In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the step of transferring the containers to and from the freight cars and the stationary container transport system placed at the hub comprises the sub step of using designated transfer wagons, on which designated transfer wagons the second transfer means are placed.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, each of the shipping containers is equipped with a frame at the bottom, said frame comprising means configured for cooperating with the first transfer means.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, each of the shipping containers is equipped with a frame at the bottom, said frame comprising means configured for cooperating with the first and second transfer means. In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the frame forms an integral part of the bottom part of the shipping containers.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the frame is releasably attached to the shipping containers.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the trucks are electrically powered trucks.

BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings. In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail with reference to the drawings, wherein

Fig 1 shows an embodiment of a distribution system for transporting parcels or piece goods,

Fig. 2A-2E show a schematic illustration of the system illustrated in Fig. 1 in operation, and

Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a parcel or piece goods management facility. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. Like elements will, thus, not be described in detail with respect to the description of each figure.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a distribution system 2 for transporting parcels or piece goods. The system comprises a hub 4 and a plurality of nodes 6 logistically connected to the hub 4 via at least one standard railway route 8. The nodes 6 function as local freight centrals. The system 2 also comprises a plurality of railway freight cars for transporting the parcels or piece goods in standard shipping containers from the hub 4 to at least some of the nodes 6 along said at least one standard railway route 8.

The schematically illustrated system 2 furthermore comprises a plurality of trucks, each picking up a container at a specific node 6 and delivering the parcels or piece goods to recipients along a logistically optimized route within an pre-defined area 10 associated with the specific node 6, wherein each of said trucks comprises first transfer means for transferring a standard shipping container between a freight car and the truck itself.

According to the invention, a node 6 is the local station, where the trucks receive and deliver the containers from and to the freight cars, and since the nodes and the hub 4 are logistically interconnected via railway 8 only, a considerable reduction of the transportation costs may be achieved, also as compared to prior art hub and spoke systems, wherein trucks are used to transport the parcels or piece goods between the hub 4 and nodes 6 in the system. The system according to the invention therefore significantly reduces the number of trucks on the roads, because one single freight train can cover a large area and carry several freight cars e.g. 10 or 30 freight cars, with containers. Furthermore, since all the trucks in the inventive system are equipped with means for transferring the containers to and from the freight cars, the nodes 6 in the system 2 do not need to be equipped with cranes or other known systems for transferring containers between freight cars and trucks. Essentially, what is needed is only a maneuverable road next to the railway track 8 for the truck to drive on, i.e. no local freight centrals are needed in the system according to the invention. Hence, the nodes 6 according to the inventive system 2 may be raised at a rather low cost, and new nodes 6 may be added easily without high costs or the necessity of building extensive and environmentally detrimental facilities, while existing nodes 6 may be deleted without considerable costs and with little impact on the surrounding environment. Therefore, the system 2 according to the invention is highly flexible with regards to meeting changing demand and supply in different geographical regions covered by the system 2 according to the invention.

Accordingly, it is seen that the system 2 according to the invention combines the better of two worlds: The flexibility of using trucks to reach the end customer/client and the environmental friendliness and cost efficiency of railway transport, without leading to an increase in the delivery time as compared to known hub and spoke-based distribution systems utilizing trucks alone. Furthermore, the freight train can be set to run on the railway tracks 8 at time slots, which are cheapest to use and which interfere as little as possible with passenger traffic (which almost always is given higher priority than freight trains), e.g. in the late evening and night time. Since the nodes 6 in the system 2 will be logistically connected to the hub 4 via railway transport alone, the inventive system will dramatically reduce the number of trucks (heavy traffic) on the roads, and the associated carbon dioxide emission will be greatly reduced as well.

In the illustrated distribution system 2, the hub 4 comprises a parcel or piece goods management facility 12 for loading and unloading the standard shipping containers, a stationary container transport system 14 for transporting the containers to and from the parcel or piece goods management facility 12, second transfer means for transferring the shipping containers between the plurality of railway freight cars and the stationary container transport system 14. Hereby the sorting of the incoming, unsorted parcels or piece goods may be done at the parcel or piece goods management facility 12 only, and all other handling of said parcels or piece goods may be done on a container by container basis.

Fig. 2A-2E show a schematic illustration of the system 2 in operation. Fig. 2A shows a user of the distribution system 2 loading a standard shipping container 16 with parcels 18 by a forklift 20. The container 16 is placed on a truck 26 (shown more clearly on the subsequent figures). After loading the parcels 18 (or piece goods) into the container 16, the truck 26 will drive to the next client within a predefined area 10 associated with a particular node 6. When the truck driver has finished his logistically optimized route within said predefined area 10, the truck 26 will intercept a freight train 22 at a node 6. The freight train 22 comprises a plurality of freight cars 24, and the truck 26 comprises first transfer means (not shown in detail here) for transferring the container laterally and substantially horizontally from the truck 26 to one of the freight cars 24. By substantially horizontally is meant within an angle of plus/minus 10 degrees, preferably plus/minus 5 degrees relative to horizontal. This way of transferring the container 16 from the truck 26 to the freight car 24 is both safer than and substantially quicker than using traditional cranes, which require special knowledge and skills to operate.

According to the invention a container 16 may be transferred from a truck to a freight car within a time span of typically 10-15 minutes, and may be solely performed by the truck driver himself. Thus, according to the invention, the unloading/loading of containers at the individual nodes 6 can be done much faster than in traditional local freight centrals. Additionally, no extra infrastructure besides a road strip next to the railway tracks 8 is needed, which is a tremendous simplification as compared to traditional freight centrals.

In Fig. 2C is shown another truck 26 lining up along the freight train 22 in order to receive another container 16.

Fig. 2D shows a freight train 22, which has arrived at the hub 4. The freight train 22 is pulled by a locomotive 28, which in some embodiments may be electrically powered. The hub is equipped with a plurality of transfer wagons 30. These transfer wagons comprise second transfer means, which are preferably identical to the first transfer means on the trucks 26, for transferring the containers 16 laterally and substantially horizontally from the freight cars 24 to the transfer wagons 30. Also here by substan- tially horizontally is meant within an angle of plus/minus 10 degrees, preferably plus/minus 5 degrees relative to horizontal, or even less than plus/minus 3 degrees with respect to horizontal.

By using a plurality of transfer wagons 30, a freight train 22 can be emptied for con- tainers 16 as quickly as in 10-15 minutes. The hub 4 also comprises a stationary container transport system 14 for transporting the containers 16 to and from the parcel or piece goods management facility 12. This stationary container transport system 14 comprises means 32 for transporting the containers 16 in a direction along the longitudinal direction of the containers 16, and means 34 for transporting the containers along a direction which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the containers 16. These means 32, 34 are only schematically illustrated in Fig. 2D and Fig. 2D. As illustrated in Fig. 2E the individual containers 16 are transferred along the longitudinal direction along the transfer wagons 30 and onto the stationary container transport system 14, and thereafter guided to a particular entry point of the parcel or piece goods management facility 12 using the stationary transport means 32, 34. When the containers 16 are transferred to the transfer wagons 30 by the second transfer means (not shown), these second transfer means may be lowered so that the containers will rest on wheels extending along each longitudinal side of the transfer wagons 30 and roll of the transfer wagons on these wheels. The means 32 in the stationary container transport system 14 for transporting the containers 16 in a direction along the longitu- dinal direction of the containers 16 may be similar wheels on which the containers 16 can roll along.

The individual containers 16 are in the illustrated embodiment equipped with identification tags, such as RFID tags or the like, or passive photo-identifiable tags, and the hub 4 is equipped with tag readers 36 identifying the particular containers 16 passing the tag reader 36. This tag reader is connected to a control unit (not shown), which controls the operation of the container transport means 32, 34 of the stationary container transport system 14. This control unit is furthermore operatively controlling the operation of said container transport means in dependence of signals from the tag readers 36 for thereby directing the individual container 16 to a particular entry point of the parcel or piece goods management facility 2.

Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a parcel or piece goods management facility 12. The illustrated parcel or piece goods management facility 12 comprises conveyor means 38 having entry 40 and exit 42 points to receive and dispatch parcels 18 or piece goods at respective ends thereof. At one end, the parcel and piece goods management facility 12 comprises scanning means 44 to identify incoming parcels 18 or piece goods at a given entry point 38 in order to direct them to a specific exit point 42, wherein the parcels 18 or piece goods are loaded into a specific container 16. The illustrated parcel or piece goods management facility 12 further comprises computer processing means 46 for receiving, storing and processing input data of received par- eels 18 or piece goods in order to provide processed data defining pertinent exit point 42, pertinent shipping container 16, and the order of loading of each parcel 18 or piece goods in the pertinent container 16 based on the logistically optimized route within the pre-defined area 10 of subsequent distribution. The parcel or piece goods manage- ment facility 12 is surrounded by the stationary container transport system 14.

The handling of the parcels 18 or piece goods at the parcel or piece goods management facility 12 is preferably semi-manual. However in a particular embodiment of the system 2, only standard Euro pallets are used to support the parcels 18 or piece goods, whereby a fully automatic - but overseen - handling of the parcels 18 or piece goods at the parcel or piece goods management facility 12 can be achieved. The parcel or piece goods management facility 12 may also comprise an area for temporary storing the parcels 18 or piece goods in order to collect enough parcels to fill one single container 16, and then sending the parcels 18 or piece goods to said container 16 in a specific order determined on the basis of the logistically optimized route of subse- quent distribution.

Hereby the sorting of the incoming, unsorted parcels 18 or piece goods may be done at the parcel or piece goods management facility 12 only, and all other handling of said parcels 18 or piece goods may be done on a container 16 by container 16 basis.

The predefined area 10 associated with a particular node is preferably not of the same geographical size. And the railway route 8 does not need to be the same every time the freight train 22 travels to the nodes 6. However, the railway route 8 is a based on an already existing railway system.

The system 2 according to the invention is preferably a "closed" system, i.e. the containers 16 are continuously recycled within the system according to the need for distributing parcels 18 or piece goods. However, additional containers may be added to the system 2 when the need may arise. This may be done by modifying a standard shipping container by equipping it with a frame structure as described in more detail below. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

In the following is given a list of reference numbers that are used in the detailed description of the invention.

2 parcel or piece goods distribution system,

4 hub,

6 node,

8 railway route,

10 predefined area associated with a particular node,

12 parcel and piece goods management facility,

14 stationary container transport system at the hub,

16 container,

18 parcel,

20 forklift,

22 freight train,

24 freight car,

26 truck,

28 locomotive,

30 transfer wagons,

32 means for transporting the containers in a direction along the longitudinal extension of it,

34 means for transporting the containers in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of it,

36 container tag readers,

38 conveyor means at the parcel or piece goods management facility,

40 entry points of the conveyor means,

42 exit points of the conveyor means,

44 scanning means for identifying the individual parcels or piece goods, 46 computer processing means for receiving, storing and processing input data of received parcels or piece goods,

Claims

1. A distribution system for transporting parcels or piece goods, the system comprising:

- a hub,

2. The distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the hub comprises a parcel or piece goods management facility for loading and unloading the standard shipping containers, a stationary container transport system for transporting the containers to and from the parcel or piece goods management facility, and second transfer means for transferring the shipping containers between the plurality of railway freight cars and the stationary container transport system.

3. The distribution system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first transfer means are configured for transferring the shipping containers between the railway freight car and the truck, laterally and substantially horizontally.

4. The distribution system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the second transfer means are configured for transferring the shipping containers between the plurality of railway freight cars and the stationary container transport system, laterally and substantially horizontally.

5. The distribution system according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the parcel or piece goods management facility comprises:

- conveyor means having entry and exit points to receive and dispatch parcels or piece goods at respective ends thereof, - scanning means to identify incoming parcels or piece goods at an entry point and to direct them to a specific exit point, and

6. The distribution system according to claim 2, wherein the first and second transfer means are identical.

7. The distribution system according to any of the claims 2 - 6, wherein the stationary container transport system comprises means for transporting the shipping containers in a direction along the longitudinal extension of said container, and in a direction per- pendicular to said longitudinal extension of the containers.

8. The distribution system according to any of the claims 2 - 7, wherein the second transfer means are placed on designated transfer wagons.

9. The distribution system according to any of the claims 1 - 8, wherein each of the shipping containers is equipped with a frame at the bottom, said frame comprising means configured for cooperating with the first transfer means.

10. The distribution system according to any of the claims 2 - 8, wherein each of the shipping containers is equipped with a frame at the bottom, said frame comprising means configured for cooperating with the first and second transfer means.

11. The distribution system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the frame forms an integral part of the bottom part of the shipping containers.

12. The distribution system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the frame is releasably attached to the shipping containers.

13. The distribution system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the trucks are electrically powered trucks.

14. A method of distributing parcels or piece goods, the method comprising the steps of:

- providing a hub,

- providing a plurality of nodes logistically connected to the hub via at least one stand- ard railway route,

- transporting the parcels or piece goods in standard shipping containers placed on a plurality of railway freight cars from the hub to at least some of the nodes along said at least one standard railway route, and

- providing a plurality of trucks, each picking up a container at a specific node and de- livering the parcels or piece goods to recipients along a logistically optimized route within an pre-defined area associated with the specific node, wherein each of said trucks comprises first transfer means for transferring a standard shipping container between a freight car and the truck itself.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

- loading the parcels or piece goods in the shipping containers at exit points of the parcel or piece goods management facility,

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

- receiving parcels or piece goods by the trucks on their return trip to the nodes for distribution to the end clients, and

- collection of at least recipient data for each of the parcels or piece goods by the computer processing means, wherein said recipient data are entered on a webpage, said webpage being operatively connected to said computer processing means.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of collecting physical data for each of the parcels or piece goods by the computer processing means, wherein said data are entered on said webpage, said webpage being operatively connected to said computer processing means.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, further comprising the step of transferring the containers with return parcels or piece goods on the trucks to the freight cars at the respective nodes, with which the individual trucks are associated.

20. The method according to any of the claims 14 - 19, further comprising the step of issuing a complete route plan to each of the trucks, said plan comprising the stops along said route and data on the parcels to deliver and/or pick up.

21. The method according to any of the claims 14 - 20, further comprising the step of transferring the shipping containers between the railway freight car and the truck, laterally and substantially horizontally by the first transfer means.

22. The method according to any of the claims 15 - 21 , further comprising the step of transferring the shipping containers between the plurality of railway freight cars and the stationary container transport system, laterally and substantially horizontally by the second transfer means.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the first and second transfer means are identical.

24. The method according to any of the claims 15 - 23, wherein step of transporting the shipping containers on the stationary container transport system comprises the sub step of transporting the shipping containers in a direction along the longitudinal extension of said container, and in a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal extension of the containers.

25. The method according to any of the claims 15 - 23, wherein step of transporting the shipping containers on the stationary container transport system comprises the sub step of transporting the shipping containers in only two directions relative to the container: a direction along the longitudinal extension of said container, and a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal extension of the containers.

26. The method according to any of the claims 15 - 25, wherein the step of transferring the containers to and from the freight cars and the stationary container transport system placed at the hub comprises the sub step of using designated transfer wagons, on which designated transfer wagons the second transfer means are placed.

27. The method according to any of the claims 14 - 26, wherein each of the shipping containers is equipped with a frame at the bottom, said frame comprising means configured for cooperating with the first transfer means.

28. The method according to any of the claims 15 - 27, wherein each of the shipping containers is equipped with a frame at the bottom, said frame comprising means configured for cooperating with the first and second transfer means.

29. The method according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the frame forms an integral part of the bottom part of the shipping containers.

30. The method according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the frame is releasably attached to the shipping containers.

31. The method according to any of the claims 14 - 30, wherein the trucks are electri- cally powered trucks.