Supply chain inefficiencies and bottlenecks have been undeniably exposed since the outbreak of COVID-19, to the point where the White House recently pledged to “move more goods faster, and strengthen the resiliency of our supply chains, by moving to 24/7 operations at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.”
Forty percent of containers entering the United States pass via these two ports, and recent counts of idling ships off the coast of California have topped 73. While port congestion slows shipping between Asia and the United States, workforce shortages in warehouses and transportation slow the flow of goods even more.
The supply of available trailer capacity and drivers is surpassing consumer demand for commodities. Companies looking to invest in additional technology to improve trailer visibility and utilization are looking for ways to automate their fleet and streamline administrative operations.
According to this study of IT executives, a roadmap, IT talent is also scarce; the lack of IT expertise is a more common stumbling block for businesses than the costs of technology implementation or the risk of data security. According to Gartner’s 2021-2023 Emerging Technology Roadmap, IT talent is also scarce, which is slowing the deployment of emerging technologies. However, once implemented, certain modern technologies eliminate a company’s reliance on a traditional IT department. Automation is one of those technologies that boost production without adding additional workers, especially for fleet firms. Fleet automation will enable fleets to accomplish more with fewer resources and personnel.
The fear is that emerging technologies will be so advanced that ordinary people will not use them. “However, think about how predictive text works when composing an email or a text,” said John Mitzel, senior director of marketing at FleetUp, a fleet management solutions firm based in California that was formed in 2013. “That’s what machine learning is all about.” It’s not only practical; it’s also intuitive. It just makes a task easier to complete, minimizing the tedious effort that individuals dislike ending in the first place.”
Truck cabs, trailers, shipping containers, chassis, and pallets all have built-in telematics and Internet of Things devices. The technology collects data using artificial intelligence before recommending the next best course of action. Approved proposals become automatic over time, removing work off fleet managers’ desks. “Using AI-enabled devices to automate your fleet helps fleet managers to spend less time monitoring drivers,” Mitzel explained.
Fleet managers no longer have to manually track asset location, driver hours of service status, or engine health by putting all assets on the same platform. Everything is displayed on a single screen. The platform alerts the team with helpful methods to address the issue as soon as action is required, completely utilizing the time and energy of full-time personnel.
Fleets may quickly deploy telematics software with FleetUp’s plug-and-play devices. Drivers and managers may sign in on any device because the software is saved in the cloud, so they don’t worry about losing data.
Businesses that automate their fleets will function more efficiently and gain a competitive advantage by reducing their dependency on IT. “With the labor crisis, more automation will boost your bottom line and enable management to accomplish more work while running a smaller business,” Mitzel noted. “From your office employees to your on-the-road drivers, automation has an impact on your operations.”
