As artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and machine learning become more commonplace in supply chains, these technologies have the potential to radically change and improve the movement of materials and finished goods.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the logistics sector—and in particular, freight trucking. While more advanced AI applications such as self-driving trucks are likely years away from true commercialization, other uses of technology have already begun to revolutionize the way freight companies operate.
“We’ve all seen the change, and we’ve all experienced the change, but the pace of change in technology is increasing much more rapidly now,” said Jim Stetz, vice president of dedicated contract carriage for NationaLease. “It’s like something rolling down a hill that picks up speed as it goes.”
One of AI’s biggest benefits to the trucking industry thus far has come in the form of expedited communication and increased transparency. Tools such as AI-powered route optimization software can provide real-time data to allow trucking companies to save both time and money with shorter estimated time of arrivals (ETAs).
“You’re looking at a change happening now where things are measured in inches and seconds,” said Ken Evans, founder and CEO of trucking technology company Konexial. “To put that in perspective, it is like the difference between getting a telegram over Western Union and a Zoom call.”
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Less flashy AI applications are also having an impact, with generative AI and large language models—a form of machine learning that can generate and predict language, as well as perform other natural language processing tasks—improving communication and transparency.
“Talking about predicting ETAs is one thing, but then also taking all the information that lives in the spreadsheets and emails and phone calls and turning that into something useful is where we’ve seen the immediate value from AI,” said Jake Hoffman, chief technology officer of Gnosis Freight.
Hoffman said AI can read a customer order from an email and plug those specifications into a transportation management system, expediting the order fulfillment process.
“One example is with drayage and the communication around all the non-physical data points, and for an export it’s an ERD (earliest return date) and a cut date. When can I deliver a container to a port or a rail yard?” Hoffman said. “A lot of times that information doesn’t exist on a website where you can just type in something and get it. It exists in communication, and we’re using those technologies to pull that information out and put it in a database so people can actually use it.”
AI also has begun to improve safety for both truck drivers and those they encounter on the road. Tools such as AI video and safety systems make it easier for trucking companies to ensure their drivers are following the rules of the road and maintaining safety protocols.
“Wouldn’t it be great if you knew with 100 percent certainty that the guy driving your 200 and something thousand dollars truck down the road and the cargo behind it wasn’t using his cell phone, was wearing his seatbelt and was not distracted?” Evans said. “These things had big implications on risk. So we’re starting to see the impact of that now.”
AI-powered video safety systems not only monitor the driver’s behavior in the cab, offering alerts for things such as seatbelt usage, but also the vehicle’s performance on the road. Evans said fleets that have implemented AI safety systems have seen up to an 80-percent reduction in distracted driving over the first six to eight weeks of use.
“This technology is actually making your fleet safer. You’re avoiding accidents and liability, and it’s a huge impact,” he said. “In a few years, I don’t think you’ll be able to get insurance if you don’t have this technology.”
One of the stumbling blocks of incorporating AI systems into trucking is limited network availability, which allows the technology to operate reliably while on the road. As drivers traverse more remote areas with less broadband and cellular access, they could lose connection to these digital tools. But Evans said solutions such as Apple’s new version of AI, dubbed Apple Intelligence, will help eliminate that problem.
“The AI is actually running on-device without having to go through a cloud or a network because they have so much processing power now built into their products,” he said. “It enables developers like us to create systems where the driver can just talk to his AI assistant on the dash, and camera systems aren’t dependent on a network—it’s all native right in front of you.”
One AI advancement that remains more elusive? Self-driving trucks. While the idea of using driverless vehicles to transport freight has been thrown around more frequently as autonomous cars continue to advance, Hoffman cautions that the trucking industry is still a long way from operating without human drivers.
“As a technology person, I’m the biggest proponent of there being a lot of things I trust a computer to do rather than a human, but I am not sold on some of the facets of self-driving trucks being able to do all the things that humans can do,” he said.
And rather than focusing on eliminating the need for human drivers, Evans said trucking companies should harness AI technology to enhance the ability of their operators.
“There are too many variables, and the computer power required to address them—and it has to happen in the vehicle because you can’t depend on a network—is too high for self-driving trucks,” he said. “What this is turning into now is safety augmentation systems because you’re still going to have a driver in the cab. On the road, the human is always going to have superior processing power to the machine.”