Today more than ever, the Internet and e-commerce drives consumers’ buying and selling decisions. The future of logistics will also be influenced by technology.
Gone are the days when we had to wait three weeks for a mail shipping item to be mailed to us. Quite recently, we were still blown away when we received items within two days. However, companies like Amazon have set a new standard with promises of same day delivery. Of course, not everything can be delivered by drone, and that’s where fleet management enterprises pick up the slack.
Shared Commercial Transportation
In order to remain competitive in a fast-paced industry, companies have to find ways to deliver on consumer’s desire for instant gratification while remaining profitable. One of the most effective ways to deliver customer orders as fast as possible while saving on fuel and man-power, is for companies to make use of shared transportation.
Gone are the days when one large truck delivered a bulk load to a distribution center or retail location. Instead, one batch of goods may travel on several different trucks before it reaches its destination. The trucks are not always that full, and they travel along less predictable routes to deliver goods to homes and stores.
Crowd logistics have had a tremendous impact in enabling transporters to achieve so much more. Regional transporters can now use the services and infrastructure of an adjacent service provider to deliver to clients who are situated outside of their typical routes. Once again, technology facilitates this type of collaboration while reducing coordination costs. This enables retail companies to remain competitive and sustainable by meeting their clients’ growing demands.
How Technology Influences Road Safety in Fleet Management
Successful fleet management companies understand the importance of investing in research and development, which provides them with better control over their fleets. Trucks are equipped with onboard computers that track vehicle and driver behavior. Fleet companies can use these reports to prevent, analyze and reconstruct accidents.
Tachographs and accident data recorders play the largest role in road safety. The tachograph is mainly used in commercial fleet management to record engine load, distance traveled, road speed and driving time. The accident data recorder is invaluable in providing details surrounding accidents. These tools are crucial to fleet management companies, as it:
- provides accurate evidence and reports that help save time when it comes to accident reconstruction for legal proceedings.
- enables the fleet manager to monitor driver behavior in order to address any issues.
- reduces maintenance costs and liability.
- helps eliminate employee overtime costs.
Telematics has even made their way into consumer vehicles in the last number of years, providing car dealers with similar feedback for cars that are still under warranty.
However, even more profound than providing fleet management companies the ability to remain profitable, telemetrics have helped vehicle manufacturers with the information they needed to make their vehicles safer. Some features that are being developed – and already included in vehicles – include:
- intelligent cruise control
- automatic steering reactions to nearby vehicles
- automated ‘follow the leader’ mode
- emergency braking in city and town roads.
The fleet management industry is committed to providing the best in high-level logistics and road safety, which will have a significant impact on the auto transportation industry. Nationwide Auto Transportation Services believes that these technologies will further enable them to continue delivering the ultimate peace of mind to their clients in years to come.
