When thinking about all of the ways technology has changed society as a whole, the transportation industry is not typically one of the first places one would go to when looking at its impacts. After reading this blog I’m sure that this will no longer be the case. Transportation alone is one of the many backbones that allows businesses as a whole to operate. Staying up to date on the newest technology available within the transportation industry is one way to gain your business a competitive edge. In this blog, I will be highlighting a few different ways in which technology is actually impacting the transportation industry.
Electric Vehicles:
The demand for electric vehicles is skyrocketing as the prices of oil and the demand for cleaner energy sources continue to rise. Electric vehicles such as cars and bikes have been popularly used in society today and the benefits are more clear than ever. Over the average 15 year lifespan of a vehicle, electric cars can save on average $15000 USD. While larger vehicles such as trucks are not quite as readily available for commercial use, the switch to electric trucks and other large vehicles is imminent. With such high savings on electric cars often used for commercial use, the ceiling is extremely high when it comes to the potential savings on vehicles used for the transportation of goods.
Autonomous Vehicles:
Self-driving vehicles are a hot-topic when it comes to the transportation industry. While still in their testing phase, several large companies are working on the proper AV technology required in order to safely transport goods without the need for human intervention. When it comes to the benefits of using autonomous vehicles, the sky's the limit. AV’s have the potential to reduce accidents, improve traffic flow, increase efficiency, reduce costs of manual labor etc.
Drones:
What sounds like it's from a Sci-Fi movie is actually becoming a reality. The introduction of drones has already made an impact in large industries such as agriculture and construction and is soon to make an appearance when it comes to transportation. Drones are already in testing for fields such as last-mile delivery, surveillance and emergency response care. These are just the first steps that drones are making regarding transportation and similarly with AV’s the sky is the limit. The usage of drones can lead to much quicker delivery times with no traffic compared to any ground transportation and once again requires little to no manual labor. This results in reduced costs saving companies loads of money.
How 3PL brokerage companies can save you money with these new innovations:
After reading about how the industry is evolving you might be asking yourself how 3PL brokers play a role in all of this. As a 3PL brokerage, Contender has relationships with hundreds of carriers in order to get our customers the best price possible on their shipments. What this means is that we will have access to working with carriers who are first to implement any of these new innovations. With the goal of these innovations to be helping companies save on their expenses and lowering their carrier rates, in return we will be able to offer cheaper rates than their competitors thus resulting in helping save you costs
