As much of the world discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, commercial freight carriers are the lifeblood of the global economy. If freight doesn't move efficiently, you end up with product shortages and soaring prices. Commercial freight carriers face an enormous amount of pressure to keep goods moving, no matter what it takes.
Doing so creates a major challenge for fleets, who must balance safety with efficiency and speed in everything they do. It's a balance many struggle to maintain. Large trucks and buses experienced 180,949 accidents on U.S. roads in 2022. As high as that number sounds, it's a figure that's about average for the last few years.
Fortunately, there's now an array of new technology that's driving digital transformation in the commercial carrier industry, enabling fleets to improve safety without sacrificing speed and efficiency. Here's an overview of the principal technologies involved in the shift and how they're impacting carriers' safety practices.
One of the most important technologies making its way into the commercial carrier industry is the Internet of Things (IoT). This refers to various internet-connected sensors and devices that enable a wide array of real-time functionalities. In the trucking industry, carriers are using IoT devices to give them almost total situational awareness of every route they serve. An estimated 42% of all North American fleets had adopted IoT technology by the end of 2021.
Among other things, IoT now gives carriers real-time location data on all their freight assets. In some cases, it also provides environmental data to help carriers safeguard fragile or sensitive goods on their trucks. However, from a safety standpoint, IoT is having an even more important impact.
IoT technology in today's fleet vehicles allows freight firms to monitor operator safety at all times. The devices let managers know if drivers engage in unsafe behaviors like harsh braking, speeding, and other types of aggressive driving. This allows managers to correct such behaviors before they lead to accidents. It also allows them to create incentive systems that reinforce safe behaviors among operators.
All this helps the carriers to keep their insurance costs as low as possible and to protect the funds they allocate to secure necessary freight surety bonds. Since those are some of the biggest cost drivers involved in the commercial freight and freight forwarding industry, that's no small thing. In that way, IoT is helping carriers cut costs by minimizing some of the biggest risks involved in their operations.
