Inland ports are multimodal transport and logistics hubs, reliable locations for the supply of population and economy, efficient centres of regional value creation, and employers of thousands of people. At the same time, all megatrends affect inland ports in one way or another – forcing them to take on innovation early on. Hence, it is not surprising that inland ports are exciting ecosystems, models of efficiency and innovation, real-world laboratories, and often ‘first movers’ for all kinds of developments.

During the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Service Operations, Logistics, and Informatics (SOLI) in Singapore in late September 2025, Cyril Alias, Jonas zum Felde, both with DST – Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems, and Herfried Leitner from TTS (Transport Trade Services) GmbH, have been awarded the “IEEE SOLI 2025 Best Presentation Award” for their scientific publication entitled “Configuring the optimal service of an intermodal bulk cargo transport service on the Danube corridor”.

We are excited to share one of the latest developments of the MultiRELOAD project: an Excel-based cost calculation tool designed for bulk container transport on the Danube.

With this tool, users can quickly estimate transport costs on inland waterways and explore its potential for their own logistics operations. The tool is available for free download together with a step-by-step user guide – and we invite you to test it and share your feedback!

Access the tool HERE
Access the tool guide HERE