According to Jay Coughlan, chairman and chief executive officer, XRS Corp., “America urgently needs a healthy, safe trucking industry to help power the economic recovery. Every American relies on trucks. The industry transports in excess of 11 billion tons of freight annually. Now, the trucking industry finds itself at a critical juncture. The industry must improve its efficiency in order to remain competitive and profitable, plus attract a new generation of drivers while meeting increasingly rigorous federal safety requirements."

 

He goes on to say that a new confluence of technology trends is transforming our industry, and this “convergence of forces” will allow the entire industry to operate more safely, efficiently and competitively for many decades to come.

 

To explain this convergence, Coughland borrows heavily from the highly regarded Gartner organization, the global information technology research and advisory company, and apply it to the trucking industry. Gartner describes what’s happening in business and our society in general as a nexus of technology and human forces:

 

Social is the technology linkage between people, and the connectivity that enables work and personal sharing;

 

Mobile is the technology platform that transports the world away from desks and brings applications of all kinds to the phone and tablet;

 

The Cloud which, whether widely recognized or not, is providing more and more of the infrastructure of everyday business and personal activity online; and

 

Information is the ravenous appetite of business and individuals to acquire more, better information to help make smart decisions.

 

So, why is this concept of convergence so critically important to the trucking industry? 

• Social connections are vital to truckers away from home for extended periods, which is a reason why years ago truckers were social media pioneers with their ubiquitous CB radios. 

• Mobile applications feature dozens of ways to measure compliance, performance and safety—while also enabling social interaction.

• Cloud computing gives drivers and fleet managers the capacity, reliability, security, flexibility and availability to manage trucking and personal data in the mobile realm.

• Trucking companies and drivers need access to volumes of information like never before—to assure compliance with his or her hours of service (HOS) to stay in the driver’s seat and deliver the load on time—making the need for big data even more compelling. 

 

The benefits of data analysis and social interaction in the cloud, available via mobile technology, are becoming clear. First and foremost, we’re in a whole new world of regulation, and regulatory non-compliance can grind fleets and trucks to a halt before they know it. Detailed, real-time and mobile monitoring to avoid violations has become an absolute necessity. When driver behaviors and truck status are measurable and safer, the highways are safer. Safety managers are given tools to see what happens on the road. Unsafe practices can be quickly identified and the proper coaching assigned. Drivers can monitor their own safety measures.

 

In addition, fleet operators know that data analysis can slash costs. Fleet optimization is being accomplished with automated reporting of fleet performance indicators: Fuel consumption; hard braking; shift patterns; idle engine wear; trip reporting; miles per gallon; speeding; and much more. 

 

With mobile data collection and analysis applications, the expense, complexity of installation and training for out-of-date, hardware-based onboard systems is replaced by a five-minute training video, 10 min. to plug a proprietary relay device into the truck’s computer, and a quick mobile app download onto the smart device. 

 

Another result is that drivers gain more legal driving time per day by automating what were formerly paperwork tasks. Using an electronic log procedure on average saves 15 minutes per driver per day—more than an extra hour per week with wheels turning. 

 

Mobile applications are creating a new trucking ecosystem: Governmental rule compliance; GPS route optimization; weather alerts; scheduling; fuel tax reporting; proof of delivery; truck performance indicators; and dozens more applications. 

 

It’s clear that the technological convergence of forces in the trucking industry is here, and it’s not about to slow down. The benefits are many—including safer operation, reduced fuel consumption; better driver and vehicle utilization; driver and fleet regulatory compliance and driver social connection. 

 

And this is just the beginning for our industry—there will be much more to come.