This year saw changes and challenges in the trucking industry, and FleetOwner covered them all. From new technology innovations displayed at CES in January to predictions of how AI could change the industry in 2024, FleetOwner's technology coverage in 2023 was broad.
In 2023, readers were most interested in stories that featured cost-saving technology tools, such as predictive and preventive maintenance, as well as technology solutions that increased driver safety. Other popular topics included cargo theft prevention and coverage of electric vehicles and autonomous trucking technology. Read below for FleetOwner's Top 10 technology stories of 2023.
10. Road to humanless trucking hits California-sized political pothole
More than 85,000 people were killed on U.S. highways in 2021 and 2022—the largest two-year motor vehicle traffic fatality rate on record. Makers of autonomous truck technology believe they can reduce those numbers by taking humans out of the equation. Many states, such as Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, and Ohio, have embraced AV testing. Trucks with human safety operators on board are hauling freight all over the Sun Belt—but actual coast-to-coast autonomous freight operations won’t be possible this decade if California legislators have their way.
Although at least 40 states allow autonomous truck testing, AB 316, a union-backed bill to ban humanless trucks on California's roads, passed the state Assembly in June and has been working its way through the state Senate. While most AV trucking companies have said that humanless long-haul freight movement could be a reality by mid-decade, politicians in California—a state known for its technology and transportation innovation—want to push off that possibility until 2030. Read more...
9. Using safety technology to achieve operational excellence
The holiday season is near, and with it comes increased road traffic. An increase in vehicles on the road can lead to an increase in accidents, the National Library of Medicine found. Aside from an increase in traffic, wintry weather conditions also contribute to an increase in accidents. Each year, 39% of weather-related vehicle crashes occur in wintry conditions, with 15% of events occurring during sleet or snowfall and 24% of events happening on icy, slushy, or snowy pavement, according to the Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
Because trucks haul more than 72% of the nation's freight by weight, per the American Trucking Associations, truckers and their managers must ensure safety on the road. And thanks to advances in technology, there are multiple companies ready to help fleet managers and drivers reach their safety goals. Read more...
8. How dash cams, driver coaching tools could help reduce costs
Nuclear verdicts, the truck driver shortage, and fleet safety violations are just some of the factors feeding the rise in insurance prices that fleets are experiencing. Add to that, loss severity and the cost to settle losses is only getting higher for fleets and insurance providers alike.
But there are tools out there that fleets can use to identify trends and driver habits that can have an impact on safety, and, in turn, insurance costs. Read more...
7. Connected vehicles produce vulnerabilities, among them are EV chargers
As the trucking industry becomes more connected through electric vehicles, telematics, data crunching, and more, fleets can't ignore the associated cyber risks.
According to data acquired from Upstream, a cybersecurity and data analytics platform for connected vehicles, automotive cyber incidents have increased by 387% from 2017 to 2022. In 2022, 4% of those attacks were on EV charging equipment. This number is expected to climb with the continued shift toward electric vehicles. Read more...
6. Machine learning predicts the future of driver safety
Roadways are getting more dangerous, leaving safety directors with a difficult mission: Sift through terabytes of data to identify gaps in fleet safety. As data analytics tools improve, safety leaders have to learn to use those tools to ride the tsunami of data, keep their heads above water, and ensure the safety of their drivers.
“Even if you have figured out what data is there and what you want to do with it, it’s never in the same place. It’s in systems all over,” said Brian Filip, chief technology officer and head of product at safety software provider Idelic during a Truckload Carriers Association webinar on promoting driver safety with machine learning. Read more...
5. For sophisticated cargo thieves, use advanced tools
Cargo theft is on the rise. Theft prevention and recovery network CargoNet reported that almost 1,800 claims of pilferage were made by its members last year—an increase of 15% from 2021, which saw fewer than 1,300 incidents reported. As 2023 has passed into spring, that surge of thefts hasn’t slowed, with thefts traditionally concentrated on the West Coast now spreading farther east.
“One of the things that we are starting to see, and I predict is going to be a long-term trend, is the shift of strategic and fraudulent thefts moving to the East Coast and more eastern states,” said Danny Ramon, who is the intelligence and response manager at supply chain risk management company Overhaul, which offers asset-tracking and theft-recovery solutions. “We’ve seen it start already in Indiana and Illinois, as well as Georgia and a couple of other East Coast port cities.” Read more...
4. Fleets moving from preventive to predictive maintenance save more
Shiva Bhardwaj, like many forward-thinking leaders, believes the future success of the transportation industry lies in predictive maintenance. And for good reason. A maintenance operation that leverages the burgeoning software tool, which prioritizes an asset’s diagnostic trouble codes based on historical data and sends alerts to decision-makers, knows where to focus their efforts with a high degree of certainty.
Current predictive maintenance solutions like Pitstop’s platform can help fleets avoid unscheduled vehicle downtime by creating a vehicle health profile based on received diagnostic trouble codes and using data analytics to measure that against historical data. Read more...
3. AI-enabled camera stops dealership thieves in their tracks
With cargo theft on the rise and common powertrain controller theft still a risk, fleets are seeking new ways to protect their assets. One new technology solution for guarding parked assets is Nio, an AI-empowered camera whose company, iDter, claims can deter 98% of intrusions before any crime is committed—without the need for human intervention.
Imagine: A thief hops the fence to a commercial vehicle dealership after hours. As he creeps along the pavement, he is blasted with 10,000-lumen LEDs, red and blue flashing strobe lights, and is subjected to a 120-decibel alarm which can also play recorded audio of a voice saying the police are being called—and they are—all without needing human intervention. Read more...
2. Trucking technologies take center stage at CES 2023
LAS VEGAS—Each year, tech companies from around the world gather in Las Vegas to showcase their latest innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Recently, the commercial vehicle industry has had quite the footprint at CES, and this year was no different, with various autonomous truck technologies and commercial electric vehicles taking center stage.
Prominent areas of advancement displayed and demonstrated included vehicle autonomy, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), tires, electric vehicles and electric charging infrastructure, alternative vehicle power systems, safety systems, and management systems. Sustainability and vehicle software were also common topics. Read more...
1. Truck parking startup lets businesses rent space to drivers
Truck parking has been a top concern for drivers for years, and even though the government is considering investing hundreds of millions to build spaces, it could be a long time before projects are completed, leaving the private sector to innovate its own solutions. One new player hopes to solve the problem by redefining what could be considered a parking space by allowing private property owners to rent space to drivers.
In December 2022, Evan Shelley launched Truck Parking Club, in that short time allowing 40 individual businesses across different sectors—trucking companies with extra spaces, self-storage companies, industrial real-estate companies, landowners with vacant lots—in 12 states to earn money by allowing truckers to park on their property. Read more...
