TRUCKING: The Future is Now
How Artificial Intelligence (AI) is Morphing the Transportation Industry
There is a major metamorphosis happening in the transportation industry and connectivity, in and out of the vehicle, is at the heart of the transformation.
As automakers continue to innovate and define the future of the connected car and autonomous vehicles, the trucking industry faces disruption in a way we have never seen before. Fleet managers are being forced to adjust quickly to new technologies impacting how they oversee their vehicles and drivers.
Imagine one of your rigs cruising down the highway at a decent speed. Traffic is no longer an issue because more than half of the vehicles on the road — including semi-trucks — are fully, or at least partially, autonomous.
The vehicle automatically knows the best route to avoid traffic or adverse weather conditions; so instead of focusing on the road, your drivers are spending their drive time catching up on their activity logs, reading or watching movies — without cutting into trip productivity or compromising safety. Hard to imagine, isn’t it?
Other technologies, such as video conferencing, mean long-haul drivers who spend weeks or months away from their families can be closer than ever — even at 3,000 miles away.
No longer science fiction, this is reality five to 10 years off — depending on who you ask — and it’s possible thanks to the innovations in connected-car technology.
As the full capability of artificial intelligence (AI) is unleashed and time-smart sensors and cameras become more economical, fleet managers will have access to an unprecedented volume of data designed to foster increased safety, efficiency and reduced costs.
The Road Ahead?
Automakers offer varying time frames for mainstreaming this technology, but the consensus seems to be that more than half of all new vehicles sold will be fully autonomous by 2025. You’ve probably heard that major transportation companies such as Uber are already testing self-driving automobiles in cities across America.
Freight delivery is an area in which autonomous vehicles and advanced technologies may have the biggest impact. However, autonomous commercial trucking faces a common transportation issue known as the ‘last mile’ problem, in which delivering freight from a major transportation hub to its final destination remains a logistical challenge.
On the bright side, the last mile is getting shorter. A delivery van that can drive itself from a warehouse to the delivery location may have reduced the last mile to mere yards, but the package still needs to get from the van to a customer’s doorstep. Drone technology holds promise, but it’s still far from perfect. So the question is: Who will get there first?
Clash of the Titans
There is a war being fought on the Internet of Things (IOT) front.
Many auto manufacturers claim they already have — subject to final development and testing — the essential technology for the connected car and fully autonomous driving. While companies such as Google and Apple battle for market share, the automotive industry will be forced to choose among competing systems. As in past technology wars, one platform will become the standard while one will quietly fade to irrelevance or obsolescence — like the 8-track player. RIP.
Which platform will win? What firms capitalize on that market? We may not know the answers to those questions, but we do know that even after vehicles become autonomous superstars, the need to monitor and track them will be crucial.
Fleet managers have to know where a vehicle is, what it’s doing and where it’s headed at all times. From efficiently routing vehicles to monitoring fuel usage, fleet tracking is not going to decrease in importance. Arguably, it will be more vital when there is no human operator along for the ride.
Tracking vehicle behavior and maintenance in real time enables fleet managers to catch issues before they become costly or dangerous to the driving public. Fleets powered with autonomous vehicles will require back-office staff and managers who can trace and monitor every move vehicles make while out on the road — not unlike air traffic control. The result? More jobs — more importantly: more ‘technology’ jobs. This transformation comes at an opportune time as baby boomers approach retirement age and the Millennials take over with their smart phones and fully-digitized lifestyles. Their expertise will help fleet owners keep pace with the technological advances facing the transportation industry [source: Teletrac Navman].
How quickly this connected/autonomous technology becomes mainstream may depend on public perception. The more quickly people adjust to seeing vehicles without a driver on the road, the more commonplace and unremarkable it will be.
Public opinion can be assisted by strong government support and, for now, it looks like nations such as China and Singapore — where the authorities are more inclined to experiment with the technology on a widespread basis — will lead in this development.
Alkane thanks Stuart Berman, writing for Teletrac Navman, for the content of this article.
Alkane Truck Company is currently raising capital on the crowdfunding platform StartEngine. Find out more here: https://www.startengine.com/startup/alkane
