Basic Examination of Electronic Data Interchange in Road, Rail and Combined Transport of Goods

As the usage of computers expands in commercial activities, it is a necessary issue to reduce the usage of papers and documents. That is why I focus in my research to find the way turning paper documents into electronic documents in freight transport. I examine road, rail and combined transport. The first step is to map the main activities and the paper documents used for managing the processes. I compare the three transport modes, I determine the similarities and the differences. There are some paper documents which more or less contain all the information needed for all of the three processes. These are the commission, the consignment note, the customs declaration and the commercial bill. The Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) proves to be the best solution for realisation. It has an international standard, called EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport).