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Definition

E-freight is an industry-wide program that aims to reduce the use of paper documents in the airfreight supply chain by moving to a simpler, paper-free, electronic environment. It involves the entire air cargo supply chain

Targets

• The IATA Board has set the target for 2011 to reach volumes representing 10% penetration on live trade lanes
• The vision is to have 100% e-freight by the end of 2015
• The e-freight vision is supported by the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (GACAG)The target for 2012 will focus on the electronic air waybill (e-AWB) as a big step towards 100% e-freight  (15% by the end of 2012 led by IATA members)

Benefits

• Industry cost savings of up to $4.9 billion annually
• Speed: reduction in transfer time by 24 hours
• Accuracy: Electronic documents eliminate manual entry errors
• Visibility: Electronic messages allow for online tracking and tracing
• Better for the environment: e-freight will eliminate more than 7,800 tonnes  tonnes of paper documents, the equivalent of 80 Boeing 747 freighters filled with paper

Status

• E-freight penetration on live trade lanes: 7.90%
• A commercial vendor community has been established to support the e-freight vision, pilots, and e-messaging quality measurement 
• The e-freight handbook, which is the comprehensive guide to e-freight, is published and available online 
• 20 international  electronic messaging standards have been developed and can be used to replace the documents

Updated: December 2011