Over the last few years, the transportation sector has grown exponentially. The growth is mainly fueled by web and software applications, revolutionizing how it works. Despite the application of these innovations, transportation is still not perfect. You can still hear cases of accidents and other issues in the trucking industry that affect its efficiency. For this reason, there was a need to introduce a more effective innovation to handle unpredictable instances accurately. Enter artificial intelligence (AI).
Integration of AI into the moving parts of the industry has grown over the past decade. The utilization of AI in the trucking industry plays a huge role in improving its effectiveness, ensuring timely delivery, and customer satisfaction. However, implementing AI into the trucking sector is not easy, especially when you don’t have the necessary skills and know-how. For this reason, it’s imperative to conduct extensive research to develop a deeper insight into this ever-growing innovation.
The following is a quick rundown of what you need to know about AI for fleet management.
It discusses what AI is, how it can impact the trucking industry, and more. Read on.
What You Need To Know About Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of machines and computer systems to perform and complete tasks that humans usually do. Apart from performing these tasks, the AI systems are capable of adapting, evolving, and learning from their surroundings, similar to humans. Hence, it’ll be easier to make strategic decisions, improving the flow of a production line.
What’s The Impact Of AI In The Trucking Industry?
The following are the ways AI might impact the trucking industry. They include:
1. Automated Load Matching
This is one of the ways AI might impact the trucking industry. Integrating AI systems into your trucking sector makes it easier for you to assign the role of delivering a cargo load to the right driver. If you don’t have an effective matching system, you might end up with overworked drivers and slow delivery routes, ultimately affecting customer satisfaction.
AI systems analyze more factors in less time, improving your process of load matching and also making it easier for you to find loads online. Additionally, they can process patterns and accurately predict outcomes regarding various drivers and loads, improving your load matching process. Hence, assigning the loads to the ideal drivers will be easier, improving your efficiency. It’ll also avoid overworking your workforce and frustrating routes, improving their morale, hence higher productivity.
2. Route Optimization
This is another way AI might impact the supply chain and trucking industry. It’s the goal of a truck driver and manager to ensure they deliver their goods at the right time with lower shipping costs. However, it can be hard to achieve this, considering you might not access the needed information. To find the right delivery route, you’re required to analyze large volumes of data and use it to your advantage.
Thanks to technological advancement, you can utilize AI to optimize and improve your delivery routes. Implementing AI technology might make it easier to discover a faster route, saving you considerable time and money and improving your profit margin. Furthermore, timely delivery will help boost your public image, leading to a larger customer base. Unlike humans who always use the old, familiar road, AI will utilize Big Data to discover a new and effective alternative.
3. Accident Prevention And Safety
Accidents remain a major issue in the trucking industry. It might lead to loss of life, which will not only affect your workforce but might also affect your brand image. Also, it might increase your monthly medical bills, increasing your spending. However, using AI may significantly reduce the chances of accidents.
As mentioned above, AI utilizes Big Data to make strategic decisions. Hence, in case of traffic, bad weather, and more, the AI system might redirect you to another route, helping you avoid accidents and other issues.
Another way AI might prevent accidents is the introduction of autonomous vehicles. Humans are easily distracted through texting, calling, and other factors, increasing the chances of accidents. Additionally, long hours of driving and fatigue might reduce their concentration, leading to accidents. Although an autonomous vehicle is still a new concept, it has the potential to prevent accidents and improve safety. The advanced software automates the speed and braking; hence it’ll be easier to react faster, reducing the chances of an accident.
However, before investing in autonomous vehicles, it’s important to understand the vendor’s reputation. This will save you from purchasing unreliable systems, which might not be effective in reducing accidents and removing safety hazards. Also, it’s important to understand the rules and regulations surrounding self-driving cars in your area. Complying with set guidelines will save you from non-compliance fines and convictions.
4. Better Fuel Consumption
Fuel is one of the most expensive things for the trucking industry. Reducing your consumption will play a huge role in lowering your spending, hence higher saving margins. Trucking managers have been looking for ways to reduce fuel consumption for many years. Most of the ways were not effective. However, with AI models, you can easily reduce fuel consumption.
The system will scan whether your truck has any issue affecting its consumption. This includes late repair, worn-out parts, and other issues. Addressing these issues may reduce its fuel consumption and improve its performance. Apart from this, the AI system may suggest a faster route to avoid factors such as traffic, which could increase fuel consumption. This may save you considerable money in the long run, improving your profit margin.
What Are The Challenges Of Adopting AI?
Despite its positive impacts, there are several challenges you might experience when adopting AI models. They include:
Cost Of Adoption
Integrating AI models into your trucking industry is not a cheap investment. You’ll also be required to train your workforce, increasing your adoption fees. For this reason, it’s important to conduct extensive research to identify reliable and cost-effective models, giving you value for your money.
Security
If your transportation data falls into the wrong hands, this will not only affect your competitive advantage, but also it might affect your public image. Hence, before adopting an AI initiative, ensure you understand its security architecture. You can also utilize measures such as cloud computing and blockchain to improve the security of your internet of things (IoT) systems and resources.
Bottom Line
As mentioned above, technology such as AI adoption has revolutionized how trucking industry works. However, it’s important to understand that adopting AI is not a cheap investment and may leave a huge dent into your saving margins. Hence, it’s advisable to conduct enough research to develop a deeper insight into this ever-growing advancement.
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