April 27, 2022
It seems like 2022 has very good news for the transportation industry. After struggling with the challenges of the global pandemic, the industry needed time to get back on track. No one knew the exact time required for the comeback, but everyone knew that it was close. What if the comeback is closed in 2022? This year, transportation industry news reports about key trends of the industry that are crucial for the change we all want. Smells like those key trends will set a start to the comeback. Let’s go over the most significant ones and see whether the comeback is close.
Even though the technology to implement self-driving trucks in real life is not furnished yet, those are the trucking industry‘s future. Although making self-driving trucks a reality may seem impossible, the mechanism behind doing it is well-thought-out, thanks to AI (artificial intelligence) and various sensors for the automobile sector. Trucks equipped with modern tech can evaluate road conditions and “learn” from truck drivers how to correctly hit the road. Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication enables trucks to share the learned information. This saves time on multiplying the quantity of self-driving trucks. Furthermore, 5G technology combined with V2V and similar modern tech will accelerate the process of crafting self-driving trucks.
Still, to achieve the utilization of these trucks, the industry needs to overcome different obstacles to achieve the improvement of driverless software. However, this is not as far off as we think – Tesla already facilitates self-driving features with its electric Semi truck. Of course, what Tesla offers is not what will come with fully-customized self-driving trucks, but let’s say it is the onset of what will come next.
Locomotion, a trucking technology platform, is comprised of a team of professionals, specializing in autonomous vehicles, AI, and robotics. Recently, Locomotion came up with an AI autonomous trucking solution enabling drivers to hit the road for 22 hours. What they suggest is utilizing two autonomous trucks with two drivers. The solution works in the following way: the first driver operates the leading truck while the second driver stays in the autonomous second truck, and as soon as the first driver needs rest, truck drivers switch positions and continue the route. This model allows truck drivers to work under Hours of Service (HOS) regulations yet deliver the freight twice as fast and twice as far.
Tracking technologies are one of the latest transportation industry trends that leading companies like MDB Transportation may utilize. Such technologies provide a transportation business with increased visibility and traceability, which is a huge plus in today’s heavy traffic. Geofencing, a location-based service, aids trucking companies to track near real-time locations alongside the best routes for a particular delivery. This is also beneficial for truckers because they become comfortable working in conditions where they know exactly which route to take to escape the heavy traffic and not waste time on the road with complex transportation infrastructure.
Sustainability in business is the primary aspect when it comes to leading a transportation business. The trend of following sustainable standards continues to gain popularity all over the world. Everyone is concerned with the overwhelming contamination of greenhouse gas emissions, which pushes companies towards sustainable business development. One of the significant trends that the transportation industry brings up in 2022 is integrating electric vehicles (EVs) into the working routine. The best transportation companies like MDB Transportation emphasize sustainability to the extent that MDB’s operations are equal to removing 100 cars off the road, planting 12,082 trees, and eliminating 169 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions – these numbers grow daily. The company has also made the first steps into incorporating EVs into the fleet – Jack Khudikyan, the Vice President of the transportation company, made the largest Kenworth EV order to date. This and similar ventures create the sustainable culture everyone wants to see.
Previously, we’ve discussed truck driver shortage as a transportation industry issue. Today, the transportation industry news reports that the industry’s workforce will go through a major shift. It turns out that transportation companies are concerned with the lack of truckers. The issue doesn’t only concern companies but the overall transportation industry because it deregulates operations and mixes supply chains. That’s why industry officials decided to implement some regulatory measures to fix the situation. They want to:
Apart from the transportation industry’s regulations, transportation companies plan to raise awareness about the significance of female drivers in the industry. Multiple leading companies like MDB Transportation – the best company to work for – plan to employ female truck drivers to eliminate gender discrimination. Although self-driving trucks are close to entering the transportation industry, the human workforce is still essential to company and industry success. Accordingly, no matter what type of modern tech will come into the transportation industry, signifying human value and getting rid of any type of discrimination is crucial. There is no concrete data on how transportation industry statistics will shift but the change will definitely be of considerable importance.
Although it may seem like all the upcoming transportation trends explained above may deregulate the transportation industry, they’ll definitely make it compliant with regulations like never before. No matter what the best transportation company in the US, like MDB Transportation, will implement in the near future, staying up-to-date with the industry regulations is a must. Whether those regulations concern overtime work routine, safety rules, or truck maintenance standards, every operation should comply with those. However, complying with all the regulations will become more manageable with automated programs. These programs may evaluate whether the company is up-to-date with the industry requirements or not. Indeed, not to be surprised if something goes wrong, companies should keep an eye on what they implement and be well aware of industry news and updates.
Although it felt like COVID-19 only created obstacles within the transportation industry, after surviving that harsh period, companies like MDB Transportation got back on track with a new wave of innovation and creativity. On top of that, 2022 has prepared trends for the transportation industry that are about to revolutionize the industry. So far, we’ve covered six of those.
Stay tuned for further transportation industry news with MDB Transportation.
