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[Find the latest in trucking technology: Explore this quarter’s issue of iTECH]
The rise of artificial intelligence is expected to change the way people work and companies manage their businesses across every industry, and freight transportation is no exception.
This transformation is not something that will happen in the distant future, but is a process that is already underway as technology developers start to unlock the potential of AI and businesses start to use it to solve various challenges.
In general, the latest wave of AI developments will increasingly enable trucking and logistics companies to transform vast amounts of often unstructured data into actionable business intelligence, automate tedious and time-consuming tasks, and ultimately improve levels of safety, productivity, and customer service.
The transportation industry and its technology vendors are targeting a wide range of applications of AI, including optimizing truck routes and dispatching, enabling predictive freight pricing and more intelligent bidding, improving office worker efficiency using generative AI and virtual assistants, detecting risky driving and enhancing driver coaching, improving driver retention, and optimizing vehicle maintenance.
But this is just the beginning: in the future, innovators will surely find new ways to leverage AI that we have not yet imagined.
That’s why, in this issue of iTECH, we surveyed a broad range of technology developers to better understand the potential of AI in freight transportation.
The potential use cases are virtually endless, but the common theme is that AI is poised to become a key driver in the pursuit of continuous improvement in the business of transportation.
As companies work to make roads safer, improve customer service, reduce carbon emissions, provide more fulfilling careers for employees, and increase profitability in volatile markets, AI will play a key role in realizing all of these goals.
Over time, the use of AI is expected to become more ingrained in standard business management practices.
Now and in the near future, AI can be a competitive advantage for carriers and 3PLs who figure out how to effectively use it in their operations.
But at some point in the future – perhaps not too far into the future – leveraging AI to automate mundane tasks and generate business intelligence may very well become a prerequisite for remaining competitive in the transportation industry.
Now is the time for business leaders in the trucking and logistics industry to start exploring the possibilities.
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