According to the “Traffic Forecast 2040” presented in October 2024, traffic in Germany will grow significantly by 2040, especially in the freight sector. The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport Affairs (BMDV) estimates that transport volume will increase by around a third compared to 2019 – from 689 to 905 billion tonne-kilometres. This development will also pose numerous challenges for the infrastructure of the ports in the hinterland. Nevertheless, strategies and projects are already in place that integrate lorry, rail and land waterway transportation in different ways.