5 Technologies a Trucking Business Must Be Aware Of
As consumer shopping preferences continue to change, many businesses are feeling a greater need to understand and improve last mile delivery options. The following article breaks down five technologies that trucking businesses can implement to ensure better efficiency.
In long-ago-days, the trucking businesses and fleets may have refrained from adopting new technologies because of the inherent resistance to change. However, that attitude has changed drastically – especially recently. Today, more and more truckers are opening up to the use of technology as an integral part of their work. Here are five technologies a trucking business must be aware of.
Are you among the truckers who are using the best technologies?
Here are the top 5 technologies for truckers to be aware of. Know more and apply these to your advantage.
Electronic Logging Devices (ELD)
With the deadline for the ELD mandate 2019, 16th December, fast approaching, all truckers are now quite aware of this technology and are working hard to adapt to it. The ELD consists of an electronic logbook to track a driver’s ROD (Record of Duty) status, among other functionalities.
The advanced technology of the ELDs ensures less chance of tampering besides reducing the costs of fleet management and ensuring 100% compliance. At this point, it’s one of the most important technologies for trucking businesses to be aware of.
However, before you invest in an affordable ELD for owners and operators, make sure that it is in compliance with the FMCSA regulations.
Trailer Tracking Systems
Many trucking companies are increasingly adopting this technology to manage their assets and avert losses, especially in high-theft areas. Besides installing a GPS transponder in your vehicles, you can also take advantage of wireless technology to feed location and other data directly into the fleet management system.
Be it Blackberry’s radar tracking system or the Asset Manager by MiX Telematics, the trailer tracking technology is here to make asset management hassle-free for the trucking businesses.
Some ELD solutions also include elements of Fleet Management that could work like a charm for smaller fleets too.
Collision Avoidance Technology
No matter whose fault it is, the consequences of accidents are always severe, causing loss of lives and goods. Hence, trucking businesses should invest in effective collision-avoidance systems to ensure safety on the road.
This technology aims to inform the driver about any obstacle on the road ahead, as well as prevent possible crashes by taking emergency actions.
You can opt for a range of efficient collision-avoidance systems like the OnGuard system by Meritor WABCO, Wingman Fusion by Bendix Commercial Vehicle System, and Drivewyze.
Platooning Technology
Truck Platooning is recently gaining a lot of attention in the fleet industry. The process involves installing advanced driving support systems in the trucks and using the same to communicate with each other and move in the form of a platoon.
This initiative to group vehicles, being driven by smart technologies, not only improves communication and streamlines the transport process but also reduces the chance of accidents with the help of advanced braking and accelerating systems.
Truck Platooning is also looking to adopt automated driving technologies, and according to the biggies in the transport sector, this will eventually help the industry realize its long-time dream of self-driving vehicles. Thus, it could also resolve the issues caused by the shortage of truckers.
Temperature Tracking Software
One of the most interesting trucking technologies that have gained prominence in recent years is temperature tracking and record-keeping for food and beverage transport.
The Food Safety Modernization Act has mandated that all carriers and suppliers should follow a set of important regulations and proper sanitary requisites while transporting food and related products.
It has become necessary to maintain appropriate temperature and moisture conditions even inside the trucks to ensure safe delivery and maximum compliance to the regulations. The temperature tracking technology thus helps the fleet management businesses to track and record temperature conditions inside the vehicles and take corrective actions whenever deemed necessary.
Most of the temperature tracking software in the market aspires not only to fulfill proper temperature requirements in the refrigeration units but also to send the information to the fleet management system tied to its GPS location.
The supply chain and trucking industry are going through a massive change, most of which is caused by their changed attitude towards adopting improved trucking technologies to better the system. Be it installing ELDs in their vehicles to comply with the ELD mandate 2019 or taking the help of advanced collision-avoidance technology, both business owners, and truckers are leaving no stone unturned to grow and prosper.
As always, some regions inspire others to follow suit. For instance, owners and owner-operators of mid-sized and small fleets are at the forefront of investing only in the best ELD for trucks in California that are in compliance with the FMCSA standards.
If you have a trucking business, or even if you are a trucker yourself, staying updated with these technologies will help you drive into a better future. That’s a safe bet.
Image Credit: Quintin Gellar; Pexels
This article was written by Sarang Pharate from ReadWrite and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
