Report: Uber for Trucks to Cause Major Disruption for Traditional Ground Logistics Market

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As connected and autonomous technologies continue to make their way into the mainstream automotive market, global research consulting firm Frost & Sullivan believes the freight brokerage market will be no exception. The company’s research indicates that 35 million trucks are expected to be connected with digital freight solutions and autonomous technologies by 2020.

Frost & Sullivan’s analysis, Developments in the Global Connected Truck Market Shaping the Future of Logistics, also finds that the market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 40.9 percent, garnering $20.5 billion by 2020. The study examined key trends in the connected truck market that will influence the future of logistics including Uber for Trucks, the Internet of Things in Trucks, artificial intelligence, autonomous technologies, and 3-D printing.

“The logistics industry is expanding to include unconventional players, resulting in innovative and unique value-added services,” says Krishna Chaithanya Bathala, Frost & Sullivan mobility senior analyst. “As logistics service providers (LSPs) shift from mere outsourced logistics to more non-asset-based and end-to-end, integrated, demand-driven logistics, with an extensive e-business focus on all logistics operations, technologies such as real-time data, sensorization and intelligent autonomous machines will accelerate the transformation of the logistics and supply chain industry.”

The report also indicates that telematics will be the key driver for supply chain automation, and that value-added services including real-time traffic, tolling, routing and scheduling, parking, freight aggregation, and weigh station bypass will gradually become mainstream telematics services.

To leverage the emerging opportunities, telematics service providers and OEMs are advised to:

  • Develop a brand-agnostic open platform: A single holistic platform with core fleet management solutions (FMS), value-added services, and back-office management software, such as transport management systems (TMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), will enhance operational efficiencies.
  • Optimize first-mover advantage: Quickly identifying and implementing new services and solutions through collaborations with start-ups will generate value addition for customers.
  • Develop a cloud-based logistics control tower: A central hub for the entire ecosystem can capture data across various stages of the supply chain and offer stakeholder-specific dashboards for custom viewership.
  • Ensure data security: Partnering with network and data security vendors will enable end-to-end data encryption.

More information on the study can be found here.