by Lyall Cresswell, CEO and Founder, Trustd
Every port collects compliance data from hauliers. Every haulier maintains their own compliance records. Yet these systems don’t talk to each other – creating duplicate data silos, operational friction, and security gaps that the industry can no longer afford to ignore.
The duplicate data problem
Port operators have clear imperatives: keeping their operating environment safe, ensuring cargo ends up in the right hands, and maintaining visibility over who has accessed sensitive areas. To meet these requirements, they collect and verify identity documents, vehicle credentials, and compliance information from every haulier that crosses their threshold. Meanwhile, those same hauliers store identical information in their own systems – verified, maintained, and updated at considerable expense.
The result is a pattern repeated at every major port: duplicate databases, duplicate verification processes, and duplicate costs.
This duplication creates obvious inefficiencies. Ports repeatedly reinvent identity-verification processes for every carrier relationship, handling the same documents again and again. Hauliers submit identical paperwork to multiple facilities. Both parties invest time and resources in maintaining parallel records that should, in theory, contain the same information.
But the real cost extends beyond administrative burden. Port operators face mounting pressure from regulatory stakeholders demanding proof of security and customs compliance, while commercial stakeholders require evidence that throughput can be maintained efficiently. Each port responds by building its own walled garden of data – secure within its boundaries, but fundamentally disconnected from the wider logistics ecosystem.
The physical manifestation of this fragmentation? Access cards. Many ports still rely on printed credentials that must be produced, distributed, and managed for every driver, contractor, and subcontractor. These cards can’t be issued or revoked automatically when a carrier’s compliance status changes. They don’t verify that the bearer is the authorised holder. And critically, they aren’t tied to specific loads or actions – meaning there’s no chain of custody once goods leave the port gate.
What European early adopters are doing
The good news is that this problem is already being solved. Ports in the Netherlands and Belgium have transitioned from card-and-PIN access control to digital identity-based solutions, demonstrating that the model works at scale.
Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges have shown that when a port can prove a carrier is authorised to collect a specific consignment, and tie that authorisation to a defined action – Joe Bloggs, representing Haulage Solutions Ltd, has collected consignment X – a wide range of stakeholders benefit immediately.
Port operators can onboard carriers without posting physical cards to multiple entities within tight timeframes. Shippers and forwarders gain an auditable chain of custody. Law enforcement can track movements with precision. And, perhaps most importantly, biometric verification eliminates the fraud risks inherent in transferable physical credentials.
These European implementations also address a data-protection challenge many ports have yet to fully confront: why should port operators store large volumes of sensitive personal data – driving licences, right-to-work documentation – when that information already exists in verified form elsewhere?
The interoperability challenge
European success stories show what’s possible, but they also highlight what is required to make this approach work globally: interoperability standards that allow verified identity to travel with freight handlers across borders.
This is where government frameworks become critical. The UK’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) provides a model for certifying identity providers to government standards, creating a foundation of trust that ports can rely upon without building verification infrastructure themselves.
DIATF accreditation ensures that identity verification – including biometrics such as facial recognition – meets government standards. For ports, this shifts the question from “Can we trust this person’s documents?” to “Can we trust this identity provider?” – a far simpler proposition when dealing with hundreds or thousands of carriers.
But government frameworks are only part of the solution. The industry needs practical, operational standards for how these systems should communicate. What data must a port receive to grant access? How should credentials be formatted? When should authorisations be automatically revoked?
The flexibility of carrier procurement in transport and logistics complicates matters further. Ports do not always work within straightforward shipper–carrier relationships. They require mechanisms to manage subcontractors, agency workers, employed drivers, and complex chains of delegation – all while maintaining security and compliance.
Real-world testing
At Trustd, we are working with the Teesside Digital Trade Testbed to explore how government-certified digital identity can bridge the gap between port operators and the broader haulage ecosystem. The testbed examines how our platform of over 10,000 verified profiles – each containing 20+ data points specific to transport and logistics – can align with port requirements.
Our credential platform enables ports to issue digital passes that are conditional on continuous background checks and tied to authorisation for specific roles or actions. A driver receives access not because they hold a physical card, but because their verified identity confirms they are authorised to collect a particular consignment at a particular time.
This is not theoretical. We are demonstrating that biometric verification can tie authorisation to known individuals at the point of collection, eliminating the risk of shared or fraudulent credentials. We are showing how automated compliance monitoring can trigger immediate revocation when documentation expires or compliance status changes. And we’re proving how consignment-level authorisation creates an auditable trail that extends beyond the port gate.
Benefits for ports
The case for interoperable digital identity is ultimately straightforward. Ports gain faster onboarding without the logistical nightmare of distributing physical cards. Automated compliance monitoring reduces administrative overhead while improving security. Fraud elimination protects both port operators and their customers. And an auditable chain of custody offers the transparency increasingly demanded by regulators, insurers, and commercial stakeholders.
From a digital-trade perspective, this also unlocks the final piece of the end-to-end journey: auditability of the “final mile” after goods leave the port for their inland destination.
The duplicate-data problem will not disappear on its own. But the solution is already emerging in European ports, validated by government frameworks, and ready for global adoption. The question now is how quickly the industry can build the interoperability standards that allow verified identity to travel as freely as the freight itself.
Lyall Cresswell is Founder & CEO of TEG and Trustd. For over two decades, Lyall has led the transformation of the road freight industry and built the TEG super platform, which now supports 10,000 businesses and manages 2.5 million loads annually. He pioneered innovations such as SmartPay, an automated and integrated freight audit and payment system offering the fastest terms in logistics, and also founded the market’s first digital ID and credentials verification app, Trustd.
