Today, it’s not enough to run on the trucking technology stack of a decade ago. Even the advancements of the last five years can make a significant difference between succeeding or struggling to keep up with competitors. With the complexity and volatility of today’s trucking industry, companies should have the components of a technology stack that enables optimization.
What Technology Can Do for Enterprise Trucking Companies
Technology is about more than making operations easier or simpler. In the age of trucking technology trends like AI, it’s also about enabling capabilities that are otherwise impossible to achieve by hand. This includes:
- Processing and analyzing large amounts of data quickly.
- Identifying patterns and anomalies, and extracting insights from complex datasets.
- Evaluating multiple factors and scenarios simultaneously.
- Scaling computational power to handle large-scale problems.
- Guaranteeing accurate results without errors.
Technology like AI automation is well suited for large-scale tasks that require precision and repetition. This eliminates human error while easily handling areas of complexity and providing clarity where a person could not readily extract insights. At the same time, technology provides added benefits like streamlining and increased productivity, which help companies save time and money. With access to advanced capabilities and the support of greater efficiency, trucking companies can gain a competitive advantage.
Technology Stack for an Enterprise Trucking Company
A trucking company seeking optimization must build a tech stack with both types of solutions—those that improve their existing processes and those that add capabilities they otherwise did not have access to.
Many of the solutions below are considered essential for trucking operations, like a transportation management system. However, for each of the following nine categories, trucking companies should assess how the technology can best support their optimization goals. With a carefully constructed tech stack, companies can set themselves up for greater success in the areas most important to them.
Here are nine pieces of an enterprise trucking company’s technology stack:
1. Fleet Management Software
Fleet management software keeps track of everything fleet-related, including maintenance schedules, compliance, insurance, fuel consumption, driver performance, GPS tracking, and route optimization. This helps managers monitor important information across the entire fleet efficiently.
Benefits
- Improved fleet efficiency: With optimized routes, companies can reduce idle time and monitor fuel consumption, resulting in improved fleet efficiency.
- Improved compliance: Companies are able to keep up with and abide by the increasing complexity of state and federal regulations surrounding inspections and maintenance.
- Increased safety: By streamlining compliance management, companies can ensure nothing safety-related slips through the cracks.
- Reduced costs: Improving fleet efficiency plus preventing breakdowns and reducing maintenance costs help companies lower their expenses.
2. Transportation Management Systems
A transportation management system (TMS) allows trucking companies to manage their entire transportation operation, from rate analysis to delivery tracking. It assists with booking, dispatching, load planning, route planning, route optimization, tracking, billing, and more.
Benefits
- Improved efficiency: Optimized routing and scheduling leads to more efficient use of resources and reduced transportation costs.
- Enhanced visibility: With real-time tracking and monitoring of loads, companies can respond quickly to issues.
- Better customer service: Better-informed operations can deliver quality customer service, leading to improved customer retention and increased revenue.
- Streamlined operations: A TMS can automate routine tasks like billing, freeing up time for more strategic tasks.
3. Electronic Logging Devices
Electronic logging devices (ELDs) are required devices that keep record of a driver’s hours of service (HOS), automatically collecting data from the truck to assist with compliance.
Benefits
- Increased efficiency: ELDs save trucking companies time and reduce their administrative costs for managing HOS.
- Better communication: ELDs improve communication and coordination between drivers and the back office, making it easier to manage operations and respond to issues in a timely manner.
4. Predictive Maintenance Tools
Predictive maintenance tools can be used to anticipate vehicle maintenance needs, helping companies reduce downtime and avoid untimely vehicle failures.
Benefits
- Increased reliability and uptime: By predicting equipment failures before they occur, companies can plan for maintenance proactively.
- Reduced costs: These tools can help companies avoid costly emergency repairs and extend the life of equipment, reducing overall maintenance costs.
- Improved safety: Regular maintenance can help prevent accidents and ensure that equipment is always operating safely.
- Better customer service: By minimizing downtime and ensuring on-time delivery, companies can provide better customer service and improve their reputation.
5. Telematics Systems
Telematics systems use sensors, GPS tracking, and other hardware and software components to monitor vehicle location, speed, fuel consumption, engine performance, and driver behavior.
Benefits
- Improved safety: Companies can help identify and mitigate potentially dangerous driver behaviors, like speeding, sudden braking, and sudden acceleration. This can help reduce the risk of accidents and improve safety overall.
- Increased efficiency: Telematics systems support fleet management with in-depth data, helping to optimize routing and scheduling and improve fuel efficiency.
- Better customer service: With the ability to track shipments in real-time, telematics systems can provide the most accurate and up-to-date information to customers for better service and satisfaction.
6. Customer Relationship Management Software
Customer relationship management (CRM) software helps manage interactions with customers, providing a centralized database for customer information including their working history together and past communication.
Benefits
- Improved customer service: Companies can provide quality service through better management of customer interactions and preferences, across different teams.
- Increased efficiency: By automating processes like lead tracking and follow-up, a CRM system can help save time and reduce mistakes and oversights.
7. AI and Machine Learning Tools for Decision Intelligence
AI and machine learning tools support operations by analyzing data and providing insights to optimize, predict downstream effects, and improve decision-making processes.
Benefits
- Improved planning: With Network View for strategic planning and Bid Manager for customer bid analysis and procurement response, provided by Optimal Dynamics, companies can cover all aspects of planning and decision-making with AI and machine learning.
- Streamlined execution: The Execute module brings together planning and real-time operations, ensuring there is no disconnect when putting plans into action.
- Enabling optimization: With CORE.ai technology to foresee the effects of all options and combinations, companies can make optimized decisions according to their needs.
8. Cybersecurity Solutions
Cybersecurity solutions protect companies’ data and systems from threats. This often includes a combination of hardware, software, and processes designed to identify and prevent unauthorized access, data theft, malware infections, and other cyber threats.
Benefits
- Protection of sensitive data: A cybersecurity system can help safeguard sensitive data like customer information, financial data, and confidential business information.
- Prevention of cyber attacks: A cybersecurity system can help prevent cyber attacks such as ransomware, phishing, and malware that can cause significant damage for operations.
- Improved customer trust: By demonstrating a commitment to cybersecurity, companies can build trust with customers who want assurance that their data is safe.
9. Integrated Communication Tools
Integrated communication tools streamline communication between drivers, dispatchers, and management.
Benefits
- Enhanced productivity: The tool can help reduce the amount of time spent on communication-related tasks, like managing email or returning phone calls, enabling employees to focus on core business activities.
Approach to Buying Technology for an Enterprise Trucking Company
Addressing needs in any of these nine categories of trucking technology doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Using the business’ needs as a starting point and working through priorities, you can get the best match of solutions for your company.
- Identify needs – Start by assessing the specific needs of your trucking company. Understand the pain points and inefficiencies that must be addressed.
- Research and evaluate – Conduct thorough research on various technologies and solutions available in the market. Compare features, pricing, ease of use, and compatibility with your existing systems.
- Prioritize – Rank the technologies based on their potential impact on your business. Focus on solutions that offer the highest return on investment (ROI) and address your most pressing concerns.
- Customization and scalability – Choose technologies that can be customized to meet your specific needs and can scale with your business as it grows.
- Integration – Choose solutions that can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems, ensuring smooth workflows and data exchange.
- Vendor support and training – Partner with vendors that offer ongoing support and training to help you make the most of the technology.
- Trial and implementation – Test the technology with a small-scale trial before implementing it across your entire fleet. This will allow you to gauge its effectiveness and make any necessary adjustments.
Achieve Optimization with Optimal Dynamics’ AI Technology
Trucking companies can position themselves for a competitive advantage simply by the way they build their technology stack. Optimal Dynamics provides AI and machine learning tools to multiply their competitive advantage through optimization.
With the Plan module, companies can optimize their freight networks and simulate the impact of different changes to their operations. They can then unite planning and operations within the Execute module, managing customer commitments, load acceptance and dispatching decisions, and tactical procurement for a balanced network. With the power of Artificial Decision Intelligence, trucking companies can gain clarity within operations to increase efficiency and achieve optimization.
Learn more about Optimal Dynamics’ platform for planning and execution.