Digitized Trucking: Enhancing efficiency, safety, and customer service.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy
• Position: TELECOM & TECH

In the trucking industry technological innovations--also referred to as "digitized trucking"--include everything from systems designed to detect and wake tired drivers to semi-autonomous operations to kinetic energy recovery systems, predictive GPS, and electronic log devices. "In some ways, it is a Wild West landscape of the next best thing," says Paul Carpenter, director of the Heavy Truck and Heavy Construction Equipment Program at Northern Industrial Training (NIT). NIT provides training and safety services, as well as business support, to industry partners throughout Alaska.

Digitized trucking is an evolving concept that means different things to different people, according to Carpenter, who has been involved in logistics leadership for more than twenty years as a speaker, trainer, manager, and truck driver. He explains: "To the driver, digitized trucking means that an app on their phone can find them a safe parking space for the night, a shower in the morning, and the world's best coffee. It also means getting better directions, GPS-based speed and truck routing information, and not having to worry as much about log book violations."

He continues: "To the carrier, technology delivers an enterprise wide impact. Intelligent transportation workflows maximize driver and equipment utilization efficiency and increase accuracy of maintenance schedules and route plans. To the customer, transportation technology equals transparency. Knowing where your freight is and 'when' your freight is. Combine that with a great user interface and real-time updates, and the customer has an experience likely to drive repeat partnering."

Innovations in digitized trucking are steadily improving safety, efficiency, fleet and driver management, and customer service. All of this translates into benefits for Alaska and the nation as a whole. In Alaska, many communities depend exclusively on trucks to move their goods, and trucks transport about 70 percent of the nation's freight by volume, according to the Alaska Trucking Association.

Alex McKallor, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Lynden, says the basics of moving freight via highway have not changed considerably. But what has changed is information flow between trucks, customers, and operations. This information being tied to strong systems has greatly improved planning and execution.

Lynden is not limiting its focus on innovation to just trucking but is concentrating on all areas of its transportation services. "We have and continue to leverage available technologies to improve safety, environment, efficiency, and our customer experience," McKallor says. "Whether freight moves via water, highway, or air, we see the available technologies evolving at an increasingly rapid rate, so this is definitely a moving target--but always toward improving safety and service."

Competition is also a motivating factor for Lynden's penchant for leveraging technology. "At Lynden, improving safety, environment, and regulatory compliance is non-negotiable, but everyone knows transportation is a competitive business, and competition certainly drives us toward all the things that improve efficiency and customer experience," he says.

Enhancing Safety

Electronic logging devices, commonly called ELDs, play a major role in the area of safety in the trucking industry. In December 2017, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began...