Blog: Transportation and Technology: What’s Next?

By Ken May, Partner

I may be part of the last generation that had to know how to read a map because practical GPS solutions were in their infancy when I started driving. Now I can type any address into my phone, and it will share fifteen different ways to get there. What changed? Well, technology has improved drastically. 

These same technological advances for individuals have transferred to the business world. A business moving widgets before the widespread use of GPS and other quality of life technologies could not provide live tracking to customers or give real-time updates to changes in schedules. Traffic because of an accident? No way to know in advance and alter your route. Road shutdown because of a landslide? You might waste two hours driving only to have to turn around and waste another two on an alternate route. Today, these are rare occurrences rather than the norm. 

GPS was just one significant step in the right direction. Today, we have computer assisted technologies that do much of the heavy lifting for us. From transportation management systems that can plan routes and loads, to onboard systems that can run diagnostics on equipment and tell you what needs to be fixed before it fails. 

In the future, these technologies will only get more advanced. What else do we have to look forward to? 

• Partial truckload (PTL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) shippers can look forward to more advanced programming that will match them with customers on route, take care of paperwork for them, and maximize their return on investment through digital freight matching. While this exists today, the shortage of drivers is spurring heavy investment in this area. 

• The push for autonomously driven vehicles is on the rise. While not ready to maneuver in cities or perform self-delivery at this point, long distance and highway driving is becoming reality. Once it becomes reality, long haul drivers will be able to switch to more local routes which will help the overwhelming demand for drivers that the market is experiencing right now. 
• Recently, we have seen gas prices rising to record highs. Alternative fuel and electric vehicles will one day supplant our traditional gas and diesel infrastructure. While last mile delivery can utilize such methods today because of the limited range of these alternatives, the race is on to increase the range and efficiency of both electric and other alternatively powered vehicles. 

These three are just some of many interesting and exciting new pieces of the puzzle that is our future. I have also heard of railroads using drone technology to inspect their rail lines, companies like Amazon testing last mile robot and drone delivery, and CMA CGM, a global player in sea, land, air, and logistics solutions, launched a liquid natural gas container ship to great success. 

Here’s my final thought. I was once at a seminar and the keynote speaker spoke about human history. If our history was a two thousand paged book, almost all of our technological advancement has occurred in the last five pages of that story. In the past, there was a major advancement once every few hundred pages, like the wheel, or the spear, but in the last two hundred years we have advanced more rapidly than at any other point. What the future holds will surprise all of us and staying on top of the changes gives us the insight to make our companies and our lives better. 

About Ken May: Ken graduated from Drexel University in 2006 with his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and Finance.   He has nineteen years of diverse public accounting experience with Haefele Flanagan. He provides accounting and assurance, tax, consulting, and business valuation services to our clients. Ken’s industry exposure includes financing, manufacturing, distribution, transportation, construction, and healthcare industries.  Ken lives in New Jersey and enjoys spending time with his wife, Ghazal, their son, and two parrots. Email: ken.may@hfco.com