Truckers and trucking companies have been talking about “the digitization of freight” for a while, but no one seems to really define what it is, or, in more important terms, how it will help freight and truckers do their jobs better.
So, what is it? No doubt the answer is simple as many truck drivers already know, it’s using digital technology and innovations to improve the flow of freight that drives every trucker’s business.
Why is this important? Many big-name freight companies like Transflo and DAT Freight & Analytics predict that in coming years freight will move more and more towards using digital technologies and dropping manual workloads. As such, freight companies that wish to stay afloat must adapt and use the same tools that they’re competitors are using.
Greg Hastings, the vice president of strategy execution at DAT Freight & Analytics says that visibility is key to mastering efficiency for the supply chain. According to Hastings, carriers can plan their stops, adapt to delays, maximize their hours of service, reduce wait times, and book the next load earlier with tools like predictive ETA.
Other planners, like VP Jason Eversole of FourKites adds that achieving this visibility in the supply chain helps freight trackers to account for things like weather delays or port closures.
Digitization of the freight supply systems connects everyone in ways that smooths communication, enables people to find their freight, and minimizes mistakes or helps prepare for delays and all the little things that can go wrong when delivering massive loads from coast to coast.
This digitization also works better for employees, helping them do their jobs better and more efficiently, with less frustrations along the way.
Perhaps most pertinently, it helps drivers improve their engagement with their company offices, boost pay by more accurately tracking their miles and cut down on time for non-driving tasks. It also aids truckers in their requests for home time, as well as identifying time wasters and reducing them.
Big companies like Werner Enterprises have also used this digitization tools to create a carrier portal that they can have access to 24/7. This kind of self-service has the potential to even out the burdens of freight, instead of relying on older, less efficient methods.
Another key idea is the idea of everyone being on the same page, instead of all freight carriers having their own ways of doing things. This isn’t to be a standardization of systems, by any means, but instead one where these individual systems can speak more to each other to ease transport and logistics.
By connecting and communicating with dispatchers easily, drivers and carriers can decrease empty miles or unnecessary travel time, as well.
Freight carriers have always been at the forefront of innovation, as carrying goods and services are a major component of economy, and the digitization isn’t something that should be dreaded, but instead, a way for carriers, truck drivers, and off-road teams to get the most bang for their buck.
Wow, another way to introduce and to ease in “One World Government “ Folks, everything JESUS said 2000+ yrs ago, sure is coming to pass, just like he said, and the Anti Christ will keep his eye on you, well look, they eased in camera’s, now just about everyone has them, but we look at them now as being the normal and good thing! The same with what’s coming, we are almost here with a cashless Society, China will see to that very soon! It doesn’t surprise me, read your Bible and ask Christ to be LORD of your life, and don’t take the MARK on your forehead or wrist, if so you will Never see HEAVEN! Get ready Christian Drivers, JESUS is about to sound the Trumpet and we will be going home soon!
All to make companies more money when has the driver’s got a cost of living raise