Top 7 Trends In The Transportation Industry For 2019
As competition continues to increase within the transportation sector, companies should make use of current new technologies and significantly improve the quality of the services that they provide in order to stay in business and thrive. So what are the emerging winning strategies that will be leading the whole logistics industry in 2019 and into the future?
In every country, a large part of their economy is shipping goods. Statista reports that in 2016 over $150 billion was contributed by the truck transportation industry to the gross domestic product of the US. FedEx, which is the leading U.S. freight transportation company, alone earned more than $60 million in revenue in 2016. Logistic companies focus mainly on providing services to the E-commerce industry. FedEx founder Fred Smith made a forecast that the E-commerce market would be reaching a nearly $2.4 trillion value by 2018 with its growth of 26% compared to 2016.
When it comes to succeeding in the transportation business the critical factor is to offer the most efficient, flexible, and cost-effective service. That is why shipping companies need to employ modern transportation industry trends and strategies to compete effectively with the major players.
Drivers With Electronic Devices Result In Safer Roads
In 2019,
Electronic Log Devices (ELDs) can significantly impact the transportation industry. The aim of these devices is to hold drivers to a maximum of 50 hours of service (HOS) a week that includes two days off, which can help to make roads safer through encouraging drivers to get enough rest. However, with ELDs, carriers may not be able to ship the same amount of cargo as they did in the past. The cost of the devices will also be included in the services’ pricing. Transportation companies hauling loads by trucks were required to implement ELDs by April 2018.
Self-Driving Trucks
When it comes to the technology involved in self-driving trucks is being perfected still and has obstacles that it still needs to be overcome, including obstacles like improving driverless software in order to give it the ability to operate efficiently on city roads that have heavy amounts of traffic. However, it is a major future trend within the transportation industry. From a long-term perspective, businesses within the transportation sector need to start preparing for future technological changes within the industry and begin to get their trucks equipped with self-navigating systems that are able to learn from real, actual drivers.
Due to numerous sensors and artificial intelligence (AI), a vehicle equipped with AI can accurately evaluate the conditions of the road and learn from the way that truck drivers act under unusual road conditions. Trucks can, via vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, can share this learned information and help make vehicles smarter. From a long-term perspective, potentially the vehicles may become better drivers compared to human ones.
This future is, in fact, closer than it may appear. The electric Semi truck by Tesla is equipped with autopilot features that can significantly enhance the driving process. Many companies, including Walmart, Loblaw, Asko, and Pepsi, confirmed that they have ordered the Tesla Semi truck for commercial purposes.
Regulation Compliance
It is more accurate to state that regulatory compliance is required rather than being a recent transportation trend. Commercial transport companies need to stay current on recent regulations and requirements that are adopted, removed, or changed by any federal, state, or local governing body. So whether it is regulations regarding safety rules, overtime, or electronic logbooks, monitoring current regulations will be a trend at all times.
Logistics Blockchain
The blockchain is becoming one of Transportation’s new trends. One of blockchain technology’s prospective use cases in trucking is to ensure that performance history records are accurate. Whenever a truck is sold the second time around, prospective customers might have questions regarding how the truck was used. Given that all blockchain transactions are transparent and immutable, all of the parties that are involved with a transaction can be certain that the information about the vehicle is reliable.
Capacity monitoring is another prospective blockchain use within the transportation industry. Transportation cost will depend on cargo volume. Using Internet-of-things (IoT) sensors may help with determining how much space is occupied by particular cargo. The data may be used for calculating shipment costs. When this information is stored within a blockchain-based system that is signed by a smart contract will enable self-executing payments based on how much space the freight takes up.
Address Delivery
E-commerce business growth leads to an increased demand for address deliveries. Being more competitive allows companies to provide better service. Heavy trucking businesses need to consider adding a small vehicle fleet to capture a larger share of the market. Last mile deliveries, however, can lead to extra supply chain risks and tight shipping schedules, An address delivery, one way or the other is one of the tp logistic and transportation trends of 2019.
Expansion of Low-Cost Airlines
Significant market share has been captured by low-cost airlines and has greatly impacted air shipping prices, especially in North America and Europe. They offer differentiated service levels which are sufficient for different clients that enable them to pay for just the minimum amounts of services. Low-cost airlines are aggressively expanding while dampening prices in order to keep all of their planes full. Some of the airlines focus on both international and national flights. Their low prices are mainly related to cheap labor costs in the countries that they work in and lower amounts of fuel that are needed for overcoming specific distances. This why transportation companies need to increase the efficiency of the services they offer.
Drone Delivery
With a focus on last mile delivery by both transportation companies and retailers, some companies are testing delivering packages via drones. Amazon made its first order delivery to a customer using a drone at the end of 2016. The delivery was made in England by the new Amazon program known as Prime Air, implying that a customer could receive a package within 30 minutes. After the successful delivery by Amazon, different companies started to invest in drone delivery to increase their business’s cost-effectiveness. The opportunities offered by this approach means that delivering packages via drone will be one of the major transportation market trends in 2019.
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