How AI made Singapore’s ports more efficient

Key Concepts

• Haulier industry challenges: high operational costs, carbon emissions, manpower shortages, aging workforce, reliance on manual processes.
• OptETruck: A transport management solution addressing trip planning, execution, and invoicing.
• Tour Planning: AI-powered route optimization using machine learning to find the best route between points A, B, and C.
• Automated Scheduling: AI-driven trip planning to address controller productivity and manpower shortages.
• Asset Pooling: Sharing resources (trucks and jobs) between companies to reduce the overall number of trucks and drivers needed.
• Digital Reality Index: Technology that converts visual data into usable data with over 900 attributes on a static picture.
• UniMAP Methodology: Live injection of fresh data from billions of probes, traffic, and government agencies for accurate ETAs and ETDs.
• Sustainability: Reducing carbon footprint through efficient operations and electrification of equipment.
• Tuas Port: Singapore's next-generation fully automated port terminal, aiming to be the world's largest.

Challenges in the Haulier Industry

The haulier industry faces several critical challenges:

• High Operational Costs and Carbon Emissions: Attributed to suboptimal resource use.
• Manpower Shortages and Aging Workforce: Affecting both drivers and controllers (planners).
• Fragmented Industry: Reliance on manual processes hinders efficiency.
• In Singapore, there are close to 3,000 or more trucks operating.

OptETruck: An AI-Powered Solution

PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) has developed OptETruck, a transport management solution, to address these challenges:

• Functionality: Covers trip planning, trip execution, and invoicing.
• Partnership with HERE Technologies: Leverages location technology and platform for tour planning.
• Tour Planning: Uses AI and machine learning to find the most efficient routes, considering various variables.
• Goal: To provide efficiency and reduce downtime for empty containers or trucks.

Implementation and Results

• Adoption: As of early 2025, the system had onboarded 400 trucks, acquiring close to 20% of Singapore’s market share.
• Increased Deliveries: Each truck now handles about 10 to 12 deliveries daily.
• Reduction in Empty Trips: Empty trips reduced by almost 50% since the implementation of OptETruck in late 2022. Before implementation, up to 35% of trips were empty.

Key Features and Technologies

• Automated Scheduling: Addresses controller productivity and efficiency, especially in the face of manpower shortages.
• Asset Pooling: Enables companies to share trucks and jobs, reducing the overall number of resources needed.
• Data-Driven Optimization: Allocates jobs based on proximity, job type, and competency.
• Digital Reality Index: Converts visual data into usable data with over 900 attributes on a static picture, providing detailed insights.
• UniMAP Methodology: Injects live data from various sources for accurate ETAs and ETDs, accounting for real-time conditions like traffic and accidents.

Sustainability and Environmental Impact

• CO2 Emission Reduction: Scaling up OptETruck could cut 10 million kilograms of CO2 emissions annually, equivalent to planting 300,000 trees.
• Singapore's Goals: Committed to lowering emissions to 60 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Electrification: Increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the industry.

Future Expansion: Tuas Port and Beyond

• Tuas Port Development: Singapore launched its “next generation” Tuas Port in September 2022, with expansion continuing over the next two decades.
• Automation: Aiming to make Tuas Port the world’s largest fully automated port terminal.
• Capacity: By the 2040s, Tuas Port will be able to handle a capacity of 65 million containers annually, nearly double the volume of all Singapore ports in 2021.
• PSA Supply Chain Hub: Focusing on cargo operations beyond container trucks, including smaller trucks.
• Visibility Improvement: Aiming to improve overall port efficiency by fixing the visibility angle in unstructured and fragmented markets.

Notable Quotes

• "OptETruck, to put it very simply, is a transport management solution which addresses the trip planning, the trip execution, and making sure that we account for all the jobs that we undertook and all the way up to invoicing and billing."
• "Our contribution to net-zero and sustainability is to reduce the carbon footprint, because it is going to consume less fossil fuel when it is being efficient."

Conclusion

The Port of Singapore is leveraging AI and location technology to optimize its haulier industry, addressing key challenges such as high operational costs, carbon emissions, and manpower shortages. OptETruck, in partnership with HERE Technologies, offers a comprehensive solution for trip planning, execution, and resource management. The implementation of these technologies has already resulted in significant reductions in empty trips and CO2 emissions. With the ongoing development of Tuas Port and the expansion of digital solutions, Singapore aims to further enhance port efficiency and sustainability, contributing to its ambitious net-zero emissions goals. The focus on data-driven optimization and automation will be crucial in handling the increasing volume and complexity of global trade.