A Look at the Technology Transforming the Trucking Industry


The trucking industry transports over 70% of all goods in the United States from ports to warehouses and warehouses to wherever needed. As the demand for transportation increases, there are concerns about safety, working conditions, and driver retention due to burnout. These challenges have led to players in the industry turning to technology to help with these and many other issues.

The Impact of Technology

The increasing use of technology in the trucking industry is leading to new opportunities for truck drivers, with increased demand for drivers who can operate and maintain these technologies. As technology continues to evolve, trucking will be safer, cheaper and have a promising feature.

Even though technology is solving a lot of problems, there is still one that remains: driver shortage. There is a shortage of truck drivers, so those with a class A license are urged to apply for the various jobs available. You can check out the class A driver Jobs St. Louis available to enter a dynamic, growing, and exciting industrial sector.

Fleet Management Systems

One technology that has become very popular in recent years is fleet management systems. These systems allow businesses to manage and track their fleets more efficiently. They can help companies monitor their vehicles’ locations, fuel usage, and driver performance while assisting them in maintaining service and maintenance schedules. Numerous types of fleet management software exist, but all of them perform the tasks outlined above at the bare minimum.

In doing so, they help businesses with fleets of trucks operate more efficiently while also saving them time and money. They also help businesses avoid downtimes that lead to losses by ensuring all vehicles are checked regularly. This allows the business to spot and rectify issues before they become unmanageable problems.

These systems also make the roads safe by ensuring drivers follow all laws and rules, reducing distracted driving, and eliminating aggressive driving. The result is fewer injuries and fatalities caused by trucking accidents and stable insurance costs for businesses as these go up whenever an accident occurs.

Dynamic Routing

The cost of fuel increases exponentially as you increase the number of vehicles in your fleet and if drivers have to take longer routes to get to their destinations. These costs can also increase due to idling in traffic.

Dynamic driving relies on algorithms that use past and current data to chart the best route for your trucks. When doing this, the software considers the vehicle’s total weight, safety, customer preferences, time, distance, and cost. These systems can also consider the weather, road conditions, and traffic to save drivers time, ensure customer satisfaction through timely deliveries and save the business money by reducing fuel costs.

Dynamic routing also becomes very useful in case of road closures. Let’s say there is a closure on a route the system previously marked as the most efficient. In such a case, the system would analyze all the data it has at that time and give the driver the best alternative route, again considering the factors discussed above.

By giving drivers real-time updates on what is happening on the road, dynamic routing systems can also help drivers make better decisions. For example, a driver might see that it is much better to leave earlier or later to avoid the rush that happens in the morning and evening, depending on the day of the week.

Electronic Logging Devices

A common cause of trucking accidents is drivers driving for more hours than they are supposed to. When they do, they drive tired, which increases the risk of an accident and reduces the probability of them getting out of trouble if there is an issue on the road.

For these and other reasons, the federal government developed regulations limiting the number of continuous hours a truck driver can be on the road. An electronic logging device is what collects this data for verification.

In addition to driving time, it can also record rest breaks and other data points. Once it does, it sends all this data to a database. From there, the employer and the federal government can see all information about a driver’s hours.

Electronic logging devices keep the road safe but also save businesses time and money. There is no reason for businesses to manually handle the logging because the device does it for them and even provides helpful charts that are easy for everyone to understand.

They also help keep the trucking industry fair. In the past, some businesses did not enforce hours of service for truck drivers. This not only made the roads more dangerous, but it was also unfair to companies that were following the rules.

Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are used in the trucking industry for real-time communication and navigation. Features like in-app messaging and real-time GPS tracking make them invaluable tools for all drivers. Drivers can pick from the millions of apps available on the Apple Store or Google Play Store to create a selection of apps that make them more efficient at their jobs.

Autonomous Trucks

Even though we are some way away from seeing autonomous trucks on the road, they still deserve mention because they could easily be the future of trucking. An autonomous truck drives itself without human intervention. They do this using advanced cameras, sensors, and other technologies that allow them to navigate roads and highways safely. Most states now allow the testing of commercial autonomous vehicles, with 20 states allowing them to be deployed.

Autonomous trucks are a tricky subject because, on the one hand, they will reduce labor costs, while on the other hand, they reduce the number of jobs in the trucking industry. They will also operate 24/7, only stopping to recharge or refuel as needed. They can also come equipped with dynamic routing and fleet management systems installed so businesses do not have to get these as separate services.

As with all other industries, various technologies are revolutionizing the trucking industry or are set to do so in the future. The best thing businesses can do is to leverage them to run more efficiently and to save time and money.


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