Today, contextual technologies like social, mobile, analytics and cloud (the “SMAC” stack) are converging to create significant opportunities in the transportation industry. Part of this is driven by our rapidly evolving customer expectations; whether it is our customers or our associates (driver and office), the value we expect from technology in the new digital reality has changed. We are living in a world of instant gratification, where everyone wants (and demands) information instantly and will consume it, irrespective of context. The ability to use these contextual technologies across our value chain at Schneider, and to seamlessly integrate information, is a key factor that provides insights to our businesses in near real time. This creates competitive differentiation, which is exactly what we aim to achieve in the transportation and logistics industry as a whole.
Leveraging New Trends
Our industry is heavily regulated, with new legislation such as the electronic logging device mandate, which requires electronic onboard recording of activities on the vehicle. Such technologies may be a disruptor for smaller players in the industry, as they will have to incorporate them to meet regulatory requirements. While not an issue for us at Schneider, we see the requirement to bring technology into every cab as a potential disruptor that will impact the transportation industry and perhaps others. Finding ways to allow drivers the opportunity to engage with us through social media channels is another trend that is being looked at. This is another example of consumer technology and expectations driving how the industry needs to operate. But perhaps the biggest potential opportunity in our industry is the Internet of Things (IoT). It has given users the ability to gather data from across the value chain, like telematics from the truck, insight from the drivers and so on. By analyzing these streams of data, companies like ours can gain insights and make changes to existing processes in near real time.
Key Role of IoT in Transportation
There already is a wide array of technology available today across the transportation and logistics industry landscape.