Open street map as a source of information for a freight transport planning system

Route planning systems are indispensable means of support for freight transport. Combing deliveries into chains and route optimisation provide grounds for efficient transport. In order to be able to find optimum solutions, travel planners require being fed with external data in large volumes. This article is an attempt to identify the capabilities of Open Street Map (OSM) used as source of information. Utility of this database is often limited to the transport network itself. This article provides numerous examples showing how the functionality of a freight transport planner may be expanded owing to OSM data. It is the specific and pre-defined data storage standard that contributes to the universal nature of the data which can be used in different parts of the world. However, it should also be noted that even though the standard generally applies, some features of individual areas have not yet been properly developed (which is where one must rely on other data sources).