A Simple Guide To Trucking In The Technologically Dominant Economy Of 2021
Trucking has defined more industries than just logistics. It is one such economic hub that has acted as the driving force for any organization. Be it retail or manufacturing, without the support of the trucking industry, no one can sustain it.
Trucking has seen itself go through a significant shift in the last decade. The image of truckers showed them as rugged and rustic professions that made the economy move.
Their jobs were as dangerous as adventure sports. Truckers were commended for their distinct lifestyle and bravado.
Today trucking is as sophisticated as a profession like any other tech company. Both the industry of trucking and the trucks have taken a paradigm shift with innovation and automation.
Smart vehicles, what seemed like a distant dream, are now a norm. We thought of automated technology as futuristic; it is now a reality.
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What Has Changed?
Trucks today are more dependent on innovative ways of life than ever before. They are filled with top of the line systems and applications that make the time on the road more comfortable and safe. Truck drivers slowly depend on technology for doing simple tasks like logging hours or calculating routes.
There was a time when tracing and virtual dashboards were considered advanced features for a “high-end-technology.” Even something as simple as a camera on your truck was looked at like a revolution in road safety. Today technology is both feeble and passable
In this technologically dominated economy that we live in, a fleet without capable fleet software is considered behind time, and inefficient. Here are a few ways technology can enhance the work of trucking.
1. Fleet Management Software.
There are sophisticated dashboards that can enable a company to manage, monitor, and schedule the whole business from a single computing device. They help you organize a fleet and derive the maximum efficiency from them though computer-assisted planning and machine learning. These work seamlessly with IoTs on the trucks that feed information in real-time.
These have made human-depended work much more comfortable and reduced the error in planning and execution to a minimum. These applications oversee all the limbs of a company like the maintainers, fuel consumption, cost incurred, and route planning. It is one definite and straightforward way to cut costs and increase productivity and improve fleet maintenance.
2. ELDs.
ELDs or Electronic Logging Devices are small devices that are placed on the trucks to ensure that they keep a check on the working hours of a driver. They are powered by the electronics of the truck and feed live data to a secure cloud-based server.
They help maintain an electronic logbook of hours driven. They also commute the engine data and detect any red flags.
This tech is a highly efficient tool when calculating HOS compliance. Hours of service are a government regulation that requires all drivers to be under a fixed-hours of operations.
ELDs keep an error-free check on the HOS and compile a chart for verification and audits. They also trigger warming and count-down clocks to ensure diver safety.
3. Dash Cameras.
One of the most crucial entities of the trucking network is the drivers themself. Advanced dash cameras act as helpful aids to help ease the long hours of driving.
Advanced dash-cameras work as a real-time assistant and provide warnings when they spot obstacles. They help keep a check on the road and record high-quality footage that is saved in a cloud.
This is valuable data to own if your truck faces any unfortunate accidents or mishaps. The information from the dashcam can be used as viable proof for insurance and law enforcement. The two-sided dash cameras also have a lens looking at the driver to encourage better practice and keep their behavior in check.
4. Tracking Devices.
With the use of GPS technology, the fleet can be tracked to ensure they are running on time and on the route. These are installed on the trucks, and they provide a live-feed to the manager in the office. It is a helpful tool to organize the labor staff by predicting the arrival of the fleet.
These tracking devices are also helpful in providing the consumers and clients with useful data on their delivery. The use of RFID and barcodes on shipments helps keep a check on the security of the goods. It also provides the trucker with a slight breathing-room to focus on the road and not worry about the shipment.
Advantages Of Technological Changes.
While some companies might still have your doubts about altering their ways of operation, and with automation, there are many prominent advantages. They are firstly a massive cost saver.
They bring down operation costs with better efficiency. They also help plan better routes and make the most use of the fleet. These are a definite way to eliminate the problem of the empty-load movement.
These are hands-down the best way to ensure the safety of the truck, the driver, and the goods. Losses and damage can result in long term delays and review losses.
Technology also helps to better plan the company without draining too much money on manual calculations and paperwork. Lately, it provides organizations with a high quality of valuable data and analytics on the operations.
In Conclusion,
It is easy to look at technological changes with a skeptical lens. If a decade back someone were to discuss self-driving cars — we would deem them ludicrous and impractical. Today they are considered one of the safest ways to commute. As the world changes around us, it is vital to adapt to the new ways of living.
The year 2020 presented to us with a full-blown crisis and a completely unprecedented one at that, it is further essential to embrace technology and to enhance safety and wellbeing. These innovations must be looked at as a minor investment in the longevity and productivity of an organization.
The demand for a growing economy is a faster and better way to run operations, and automation and innovation in the field helped propel this change.
