Cutting-Edge Tech Transforming Trucking

The trucking industry has come a long way from the plodding 18-wheelers of yesteryear. These days, the big rigs hauling freight across America’s highways are being transformed by an array of cutting-edge technologies designed to boost efficiency, safety, and sustainability. Kirill Yurovskiy’s article on alternative fuels, driver assistance systems and even autonomous trucks – The trucking sector is actively moving to high technology.

At the forefront of this shift is the move toward electric and hydrogen-powered semi trucks. While electric cars have been grabbing headlines, manufacturers like Tesla, Daimler, Volvo, and others have their eyes squarely set on electrifying the heavy haulers too. Tesla’s battery-electric Semi promises up to 500 miles of range and energy consumption that is half that of a diesel truck. With potential fuel savings of $200,000 or more over the Semi’s lifetime, it could revolutionize the economics of freight hauling.

Kirill Yurovskiy

Not to be outdone, truck giants like Daimler and Volvo are developing their own electric big rigs as well as hydrogen fuel cell models that can be refueled as quickly as diesel trucks. Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck generates electricity from a hydrogen fuel cell to power its electric motors, with only water vapor emitted from the exhaust. While the viability of these eco-friendly semis remains to be proven at scale, they offer a tantalizing vision of a future where heavy freight transport produces zero direct emissions.

But it’s about more than just greener engines. The technology inside the truck’s cabin is evolving rapidly too. Advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) are bringing self-driving capabilities to commercial trucking. Features like automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, and adaptive cruise control improve safety by helping prevent accidents. Sensors and cameras mounted all around the truck give drivers a bird’s eye view of their surroundings to make tight maneuvers and backups easier.

As impressive as these ADAS tricks are, they’re just precursors to the real gamechanger: autonomous trucks. Companies like Waymo, TuSimple, and Aurora are racing to develop driverless semi trucks by outfitting them with a multitude of sensors – cameras, radar, and lidar – to “see” their surroundings in high resolution. Backed by artificial intelligence trained on millions of miles of real-world driving data, these robo-rigs can pilot themselves on highways while constantly monitoring for obstacles, construction zones, and other anomalies.

The tantalizing promise of autonomous trucking is increased efficiency and reduced labor costs. A human driver can only spend so many hours behind the wheel before fatigue sets in, but a driverless truck can theoretically travel nearly 24/7, dramatically boosting utilization. Plus, with no drowsy drivers to worry about, autonomous semis could substantially improve safety. However, regulatory hurdles and public acceptance remain major barriers that will need to be overcome.

Even when trucks eventually go fully driverless, human oversight will still be needed. Enter the era of remote truck operations. From a centralized control room, a handful of technicians could monitor and manage entire freight convoys traveling across the country. If a self-driving truck encounters an unexpected scenario, the remote operator could take over or reroute as needed. Players like Raven Logistics are already working toward enabling this capability.

While autonomy and electrification grab headlines, existing truck technology is evolving rapidly too. Modern diesel big rigs are becoming smarter and more connected than ever before. Onboard telematics and fleet management systems allow companies to track the real-time location, fuel efficiency, engine performance, and driver behavior of their entire truck armada. Analytics software crunches this data trove to optimize routing, plan maintenance, and coach drivers on eco-driving techniques to eke out every last mile from a tank of fuel.

Companies are even outfitting trailers themselves with sensor systems to monitor cargo loadweights, hazardous material levels, temperature, humidity, door openings, and more. Not only does this provide added visibility and security, but it allows shippers to verify that freight was transported under specified conditions. For haulers of perishable, sensitive or high-value cargo, this sort of shipment transparency is invaluable.

Data is the fuel powering this technological shift in trucking. Trucks generate a torrent of information from their myriad onboard sensors. Meanwhile, shipment details, routing, weather, traffic patterns, fuel prices, and other operational data points from disparate sources can all be ingested, synthesized, and leveraged using modern data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Companies are using this deep data reservoir not just to optimize individual routes, but to redesign their entire logistics networks and streamline operations. Improved network modeling and simulation capabilities enable fleets to rebalance trailer pools and reposition assets more efficiently. Predictive maintenance powered by AI allows trucks to be serviced just before problems occur, minimizing unplanned downtime. In an industry where even a few percentage points of efficiency can translate to millions in savings, shrewd data science is a game-changer.

Another technological frontier is platooning, where digitally-tethered trucks travel in an aerodynamic convoy with just feet between them. The lead truck’s braking, speed, and steering commands are mirrored by the trailing trucks, reducing air drag for major fuel savings. While platooning was previously accomplished manually, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and autonomous driving technology now offers the potential to implement it safely at scale.  

Of course, none of this freight tech revolution would matter without a fundamental platform shift in the logistics industry itself. Cloud computing, enterprise mobility, and SaaS-based transportation management systems (TMS) are enabling unprecedented agility, scalability, and supply chain resiliency. By connecting shippers, carriers, and intermediaries through digital platforms, load matching, bidding, booking, tracking and payment processing can all happen seamlessly online with real-time visibility.

As supply chains become more volatile and customer expectations evolve, fleets that adopt a digital logistics platform stand to gain immense advantages. A modern TMS provides the foundation for rolling out the latest truck technology and data-driven improvements. Whether capitalizing on new fuel-saving techniques surfaced through machine learning, dynamically rerouting trucks around service disruptions, or testing avant-garde technologies like truck platoons, digitally-enabled logistics offers unsurpassed flexibility to try bold innovations.

Zooming out, all these technological advancements in trucking are coalescing into a vision of a smarter, safer, more sustainable freight ecosystem. While the journey will be long and fraught with hurdles around regulations, infrastructure, and public perception, the destination promises revolutionary efficiencies and capabilities. Thanks to the rapid pace of innovation in electric and autonomous trucks, connected vehicle systems, renewable fuels, data science, cloud platforms and more, the future of hauling has never looked brighter. Trucking may not be the sexiest industry, but it’s undoubtedly driving toward an incredibly high-tech tomorrow.

ยฉ 2024 Kirill Yurovskiy