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A Look into Trucking IT, Past and Future

By Ross Froat posted 05-11-2015 09:48

  

The technology and information revolution has greatly improved the accuracy of shipping data and the speed with which this information can be shared. These innovations, in turn, are allowing information to reduce the amount of on-hand inventory needed for operations.

Like railroads, motor carriers are using technology to transmit timely reliable information to assure the prompt movement of their goods. Just in-time service cannot occur unless the pertinent shipping information is just ahead of the load.

Unlike railroads, motor carriers are exploring a wider variety of technologies. Several factors influence this trend.

First, there are far more motor carriers than railroads. Second, motor carriers do not operate over a fixed route system. As a result, this industry's technology choices have tended to link commercial vehicles with their corporate and customer structures through satellite and cellular communications.

As early as 1998, trucking companies contracted with communication companies to install GPS tracking units on their tractors. Each tractor had a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a computer with a keyboard in the cab, and a satellite antenna with a GPS on the back of the cab. The GPS tracking units not only track the location of equipment (customer orders), but also are used to communicate with drivers to give directions, instant messaging, send paperwork, and guide them around roadwork or areas of trouble. GPS tracking units also aid in placing the closest truck to the next nearest customer which reduced response time and hence increased customer and driver satisfaction.

During the year 2000, the largest trucking companies embarked on an information technology binge to reduce their operating costs which were increasing, but the main reason for this change was to gain a competitive edge. Logistics companies were spun off to build customer friendly web sites that would enable customer transactions to be completely paperless. Ultimately the new web site would enable customers to enter their order, check the what, when, where of that order, as well as schedule and proof of delivery. Companies with these web sites gained a major advantage over their competitors. The effect of these customer web sites was twofold. The price of doing business was reduced and the simplicity, convenience and satisfaction for the customer were improved immensely through information technology.

Problems such as load scheduling were solved by IT also. With thousands of load assignments per day, along with all the possible combinations of drivers and loads it was an immense human task to assign the loads to the right truck/tractor. New IT load scheduling systems were created to access thousands of loads per second and to assign the loads to trucks that are at different locations all over the world each day.

Fast forward 15 years and what do we have now? Mobile device diversity and management, mobile apps and applications, the “internet of things” or everything, hybrid cloud and IT as a service, smart machines etc., etc.

Consider these advancements that will continue to revolutionize the industry:

New legislation. New trucking legislation inevitably creates short term complications and confusion, but regulations promoting industry fairness for drivers, shippers, and forwarders will improve transparency and reasonable timeframes for shipments. Proposed relevant legislation should also address concerns over environmental sustainability and safety.

Technology. Intermodal services now offer a wide range of tools to make trucking more efficient across the board. Trucking companies could start housing all their information in the cloud. This makes managing schedules, invoicing, and record keeping more accessible.

Trucking advancements. In addition to improvements on the logistics side, trucking industry experts expect to see a spike in advancement in truck technology. The trucker’s job will remain in high demand, but the nature of the work may change with the introduction of highly advanced, energy efficient, self-driving trucks.

Where will we be in 20 years? Will the trucking IT and logistics become an infinite live streaming course of data shared between delivery truck and customer back office mainframe computer? Some challenges exist to the future of trucking, like securing adequate staffing, but for players who learn to adapt and evolve will thrive in the future market.

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08-05-2015 09:51

Part of the future is new technologies for improving freight efficiency and operational efficiency.
There are three drivers of technology that the industry is embracing:
Freight efficiency (longer trailers, new combinations, etc)
Electrification (hybridization, 24, 48 volt systems, regenerative braking)
Platooning (driver assisted, fully automated)
It is foreseeable that the next generation of trailers will be "Smart" trailers with their own energy source(s), V2V and V2I communications and other productivity enablers to improve freight movement.