In
the year 2016, there were approximately 4,93,730 trucking companies
in the U.S., as per a report by FMCSA. Even today, most of the small
business owners in the U.S. are truckers. So, as this industry grows,
it becomes necessary to track several statistics of this industry in
real-time. Factors like the load on the trucks, time required for
loading and unloading of goods, traffic on the travel routes,
Tracking the vehicles in real time, etc. are important to the fleet
managers and truck owners of the businesses.
The
Internet of Things (IoT) plays a significant role here. It has
connected sensors, electronic monitors, actuators, GPS
Receivers, RFID systems, beacons, etc. with a
network of physical devices, appliances, vehicles, and other items
for data collection and communication. IoT
in transportation and trucking
industry has provided several promising solutions to develop powerful
applications and systems.
Let’s
look in detail about what this futuristic technology has in store for
the ever-growing trucking and transportation business.
Role
of IoT in the Trucking Industry!
IoT-based solutions are
transforming the trucking industry in unbelievable ways. They assure
better transparency, higher operational efficiency
and enhanced security and ultimately increase the
profit margins. Trucks which has Sensors connected, travel via
different routes and at various locations sensors collect and send
data to the decision-makers for the insights that help in gaining
better results.
In the year 2015, Saia
LTL Freight Inc., a reputed trucking company in America, had
installed sensors in their trucks for tracking fuel usage,
maintenance needs, and many other performance metrics. This raised
the fuel efficiency of the company by 6% saving millions of dollars.
An excellent example of
IoT-based solutions for trucking industry is AppWeigh.
It is a specially designed mobile app which uses Bluetooth-enabled
weight sensor to measure the load on air suspension trucks and
trailers throughout its shipment. The truck weight is directly sent
to the owners on their smartphones to keep them informed. The owners
can ensure that their trucks and goods are safely and legally loaded
to the destination. This app can be useful to individual truck owners
as well as transportation and trucking companies as they alert the
drivers and managers when the weight in the vehicle crosses the
permissible limit and thereby facilitates them to take immediate
action.
How
IoT impacts the Trucking Industry?
Real-time
monitoring:
In the trucking industry,
IoT is used for tracking the real-time location of trucks, load on
the trucks, condition of goods, traffic in the
route, etc. IoT-enabled GPS trackers are used to continuously
monitor and track the location of vehicles. This real-time data is
transmitted to a central system and then updated to mobile phones
using the internet. Thus, IoT allows the drivers, fleet managers or
owners to respond quickly to situations like traffic jams, bad
weather conditions, and re-routing the trucks, avoiding delays.
Also, when it comes to
transportation of perishable goods that are environmentally
sensitive, IoT devices are used to keep watch on the temperatures of
goods, vibrations or shocks in the trucks, etc. For instance, a truck
carrying biological and biopharmaceutical medicines need to maintain
them at certain temperatures during
transportation. IoT systems notify the fleet drivers and managers
about the temperature changes in real-time. This keeps the medicines
in good condition and also avoids any dangerous situations.
With
the use of IoT, maintenance schedules of trucks can be optimized and
unnecessary miles or idle times can be eliminated. This reduces the
wastefulness of time and also improves fleet management.
Inventory
management and warehousing:
Beacon integration, BLE
connectivity, RFID tags, smart scanning and detecting sensors, etc.
are used to track the products and inventory in companies. It helps
in efficiently managing the warehouse space, easy delivery of the
goods and automatic management of the orders. It is used to make the
managers aware of the number of goods through SMS, email
notification, etc. Thus, IoT contributes to improving the overall
warehouse performance.
Enhanced safety and
security:
IoT provides robust security
services to vehicles as well as drivers and managers. Cameras and
sensors help to detect dangerous and life-threatening situations like
vehicle breakdown, bad weather conditions, etc., in advance and
convey to the concerned personnel on their smartphones. The IoT
systems also alert the drivers about the maintenance schedules of the
truck in time. It keeps the trucks in good health and reduces the
chances of any mishaps. These systems also help drivers to locate
nearby refueling spots when the trucks reach low
fuel levels.
Compliance
with Government rules:
Trucks need to follow strict government
regulations. As per the Electronic Logging Device mandate, the
drivers need to install electric devices in their truck, which will
track the working hours and activities of the drivers. As per the
law, drivers cannot drive for more than 10 hours a day. Because of
this law, drivers had to maintain logbooks to record their working
hours. With the adoption of IoT in transportation and trucking
industry, all the companies can easily comply with this law.
Retention of
drivers:
IoT-linked trucks help
the drivers do their jobs faster and with enhanced safety. IoT saves
the drivers from paper works by automatically updating the fleet
managers about the delivery timings, weight of the goods, etc.
Drivers can get assistance regarding troubleshooting and service
instructions when required. They can be informed in advance about
changes in routes, off-duty hours, traffic timings, bad weather, etc.
Final
Words:
IoT
has brought incredible advancements in the trucking industry.
Companies can leverage the connectivity of IoT devices for predictive
and preventive analysis and streamlining different processes. Whether
it is fleet monitoring, Transport inventory management, Geofencing,
Remote area monitoring, monitoring traffic conditions for trucking
routes, monitoring the load carried by trucks, controlling the
temperatures or estimating the downtime, trucking business can
manage their operations efficiently because of the adoption of IoT in
this industry. IoT has proved to be a secure, reliable and
cost-effective way to boost the bottom line of the trucking
businesses.
This
article was just like a drop in the ocean when we talk about the
advantages of IoT in the trucking and transportation industry. There
is a lot to discuss.
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