The Future of Trucking is Here

An astonishing amount of change has taken place in trucking in a pretty short amount of time. There are fleet owners who can recall their driving days, when they had to muscle through without power steering.

Just ten years ago, most truckstops still had phone banks for drivers who needed to do business or call home — now they have charging stations. There are probably still a few drivers who feel more comfortable with their spiral-bound road atlas, but even they grudgingly accept that the GPS can get them where they need to go.

Technology changes affect more than the way that trucks handle and how fleets operate. It is changing how retail outlets do business, transforming what customers expect and what shippers need from carriers. Staying competitive means keeping current with what is happening in the industry, and staying nimble means thinking about what will come along next.

A 2017 white paper from the University of Tennessee Global Supply Chain Institute, Transportation 2025 Megatrends and Current Best Practices, looks at exactly that, and notes, “Examining the past decade can reveal much about how to prepare for the journey to 2025.”

E-commerce is the big game changer for shippers and carriers. Customers now expect delivery in a matter of hours or days, not weeks. This is why “last mile logistics” is such a big topic of conversation — companies need to get goods to customers fast, and the traditional distribution network doesn’t serve that purpose.

Amazon, with its 2-day free Prime delivery option, and more recently its Prime Now 2-hour delivery, is the harbinger of what is to come.

Shippers will likely lean toward the carriers with proven on-time records, and will have the technology to find them. “Would a shipper be willing to pay more for a carrier with 99.7 percent on-time-delivery performance on a lane if doing so would minimize a charge back for a late shipment?” the Transportation 2025 white paper authors ask.

Autonomous trucks are not an immediate reality, but they will almost certainly become a factor in years to come. Intermodal transport is already seen as an attractive mode of transportation by both shippers and suppliers, and is slated for growth. Big data, though overwhelming at first, is incredibly valuable once tamed, and more companies now understand how to hone in on the information they need to improve business by eliminating weaknesses and building on strengths.

All of this is food for thought as trucking companies look beyond their annual goals or even their five-year plan. The structure for delivering goods is in the midst of a huge change and experts across the board say that both shippers and carriers will need to adjust relatively quickly.

2025 is just seven years away.

Get More Insights on Fleet Management and the Trucking Industry

Get instant access to in-depth content on how fleet owners and managers can navigate the challenges of running a trucking company in a rapidly changing industry.