Intermodal Gets Intelligent: Kuehne+Nagel Pilots Quantum-AI Platform for Cross-Border Logistics
August 24, 2023
Kuehne+Nagel’s August 2023 launch of Q-MODAL represents a significant advancement in applying quantum-inspired artificial intelligence to the intricacies of intermodal freight forwarding. Intermodal logistics—using multiple transport modes like truck, rail, and vessel in a single shipment—presents routing challenges characterized by volatile schedules, congestion, customs complexities, and stringent emissions goals.
The pilot targeted three key corridors connecting Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands: Hamburg–Łódź, Rotterdam–Wrocław, and Berlin–Poznań. These routes regularly suffer from delays, infrastructure disruptions, and regulatory constraints, all while handling thousands of containers and LTL shipments weekly.
Q-MODAL combines machine learning, quantum-inspired optimization, and human-in-the-loop decision support:
ETH Zurich’s Institute for Machine Learning developed predictive models for transit time variability, CO₂ emissions, and constraint identification using K+N’s TMS and external data sources.
Zapata Computing’s Orquestra platform encoded routing as Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization problems, leveraging tensor network solvers to explore millions of intermodal configurations efficiently.
Dispatch planners used a dashboard offering ranked route recommendations, confidence metrics, and visualizations of CO₂ vs. delivery time trade-offs, maintaining human oversight.
Over the month-long pilot, Kuehne+Nagel reported:
A 6.8% reduction in CO₂ emissions by favoring rail-ocean blends over road-heavy routes where schedules permitted.
A 9.4% improvement in delivery reliability, notably during rail delays and border holdups.
Optimization runtimes under 20 seconds, allowing rapid route adjustments in response to disruption.
The system showed robustness despite 10–15% variance in input ETAs, demonstrating the resilience of quantum-inspired solvers to uncertainty.
Kuehne+Nagel’s Chief Digital Officer Stephan Haltermann emphasized that hybrid quantum-AI approaches provide scalable solutions to the complexity of intermodal freight, enabling smarter, sustainable transport decisions beyond classical brute-force methods.
Q-MODAL supports K+N’s vision of a Digital Twin Freight Network by 2025—where virtual shipment models enable dynamic replanning aligned with sustainability targets and operational resilience. The project also forms part of K+N’s engagement with QuantumBasel and the European Quantum Flagship, highlighting its role in the emerging quantum logistics ecosystem.
Limitations include the current focus on container shipments, manual quantum problem formulation, and scalability challenges. Next steps include automating QUBO generation, expanding to new corridors in Spain, France, and Germany, and exploring noisy intermediate-scale quantum hardware applications by 2025.
Kuehne+Nagel’s pilot sets a benchmark in freight forwarding innovation, illustrating how hybrid quantum-classical technologies are transitioning from research labs into practical tools that address real-world supply chain challenges—helping the industry meet growing demands for efficiency, reliability, and environmental responsibility.