The transportation and logistics sector has gone through massive evolution over the past 25 years. During the first part of the century, the logistics sector served as a purely operational function. It was part of sales or manufacturing but not the other way around. Today, logistics serves as an independent supply chain management function. It does not operate in a silo role, but both drives business and influences customer satisfaction.
There are a lot of pressures coming from all sides, whether they be regulatory or otherwise. Trucking companies must contend with compliance pressures to work with more fuel-efficient fleets, meet certain clean air standards, comply with hours of service, ELD mandates, and more. This all comes at a time of a global pandemic and a skilled talent shortage.
While all this happens, consumers continue to drive trends across the supply chain. They are more informed, less patient, and have more options than they have ever had before. Competition is stiff, and fleets must innovate if they want to stand out. Keeping up with changing customer preferences has become a big challenge in the current marketplace. And this all comes at a time when emerging technologies are changing the way we work. What will the future of logistics look like?
Emerging Technologies to the Front
Emerging technologies are defined by five key attributes. They are:
- Radical novelty
- Fast growth
- Coherence
- Prominent Impact
- Uncertainty
- Ambiguity
Over time, many of the attributes that define an emerging technology change. What makes it emerging is the uncertainty of it all. When the ELD mandate came into effect, suddenly electronic logging devices became an emerging technology. Sure, we had AOBRDs, but they do not have capabilities that come close to what the ELDs of today can do.
The logistics industry is going through a time of rapid change and transformation. Emerging technologies have created a new, innovative landscape where new technologies provide amazing ways to complete tasks and get the job done. Just a few decades ago, concepts like 3D printing and drone delivery were things of science fiction. Today, they are science fact.
The transportation and logistics sectors are cautiously adopting these emerging technologies as they allow for faster, cheaper, more reliable, and more sustainable delivery methods. And this all is happening in parallel. As the transportation sector evolve, its customers, from manufacturers to retailers, are adopting their own emerging technologies and encouraging their shipping partners to do the same. So, what emerging technologies have significantly impacted trucking?
Autonomous Commercial Motor Vehicles
Here at the Quick Transport Solutions Blog, we have spent a lot of time talking about driverless and semi-autonomous tractor trailers. And there is a reason for that. This is a topic that could potentially impact truck drivers directly. Various internet companies and car OEMs are making bold predictions about the future of self-driving vehicles, but the jury is still out on driverless big rigs.
Sure, autonomous, and semi-autonomous vehicles will play a role and help fleets lower costs, but it will be a long time before we see them on the roads by themselves. There will still be a place for a truck driver for a long time to come.
One study found that nearly half of all manufacturers and retailers would like to see their logistics partners have knowledge or expertise of driverless vehicles. The problem is that a miniscule amount of trucking companies and logistics partners actually have knowledge of these systems. Fortunately, many companies plan to learn more about them in the future.
Drone Delivery
We have all heard of the big player in the news revolutionizing autonomous delivery methods. That player is Amazon. They were the first to bring drone delivery to market and, since then, many other companies have adopted drone delivery. But it is all well and good that companies are utilizing drones to deliver goods. The real question is how consumers are receiving them.
Not surprisingly, one study found that 27% of those surveyed expected to see drone delivery see widespread use within the next 5 – 10 years. Another significant percentage expect to see drone delivery, but only in rural areas or in specialized cases. Very few people think that drone delivery will never happen.
Of course, there are many challenges to drone delivery seeing widespread usage. A majority of those who work in the sector believe one of the largest challenges will be regulatory in nature. Others said that safety will be a primary challenge. Reliability came in last and very few people thought drones would not be used at all.
The Internet of Things
From hairbrushes to toasters, consumer and industrial devices are being built with chips specifically so that they can collect information and communicate with each other and other devices. Welcome to the age of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT devices communicate with each other within existing internet or networking infrastructure without human intervention.
Even more interesting, over 25% of trucking and transportation companies are currently using machine-to-machine technology. Of those that are not using them, nearly half plan on deploying the technologies soon. Even more interesting, most trucking companies said they believed IoT technologies would have a significant impact on logistics and supply chain management.
IoT in transportation and logistics has become very important in the trucking industry, making a better two-way communication between the truck driver and their fleet manager. From cloud-based sensors transmitting data back to fleet management systems to better communication, IoT is an emerging technology that trucking companies need to quickly become familiar with.
3D Printing Takes Over
3D printing has become a catch-all for almost any kind of manufacturing one has in mind. Consider that it is even being used to 3D print rockets! While the idea of 3D printing was around for a long time, it was not until the past decade that it became a reality. Now, manufacturers, businesses, and even individuals can “print” exact working replicas of parts and products using metals, plastic, composite materials, and, in some cases, even human tissue.
The trucking and transportation sector is becoming more familiar with 3D printing as many of their customers are utilizing this practice to manufacture their products. As a result, the time to market for many manufactured items has been drastically reduced. 3D printing has also simplified supply lines and created greater efficiencies within many industries.
The fact is there are many more emerging technologies impacting trucking and transportation then we can even list here. As technologies evolve, trucking, transportation, and logistics companies will need to get with the times to avoid being left behind by the competition.
The Digital Supply Chain
The future of logistics should benefit from the vast amounts of big data available in the market right now, but trucking companies need to make sure they embrace emerging technology properly. Information will be coming in from many different sources and should be fed into advanced predictive analytics systems.
While not every trucking company will be able to afford these types of solutions, over time the cost of these goods will continue to drop. Eventually, even small trucking companies and owner-operators will be able to take advantage of emerging technologies and harness them for the power of their operations.
Having all these pieces in place, whether it be the data, analytics, automation, machine learning, electric vehicles, or advanced infrastructure, will position smart trucking companies for the future. A connected digital supply chain will require trucking companies to be nimble and OEMs will need to get products to market faster than they used to.
The digital supply chain gets products to assembly lines faster and right when the lines need them. It can help companies strategically map warehouses and distribution centers and meet sustainability goals. Fleets become more accurate, more efficient, and make more money when they couple emerging technologies with the digital supply chain.