<img width="150" src="http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_images/blogs/m-telogis-mobile-1.jpg" border="0" alt="
Photo: Telogis
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Photo: Telogis
">Late last week, I was sweating away in the gym watching two talking heads blather away on one of those stock market channels the old guys in there love to watch. And these two experts were going on about how Apple was pretty much over as a tech company – that all that could be done with a cell phone had been done and the company founded by Steve Jobs was going to have to find something new to sell to the public.
And then this week Apple announced that it sold 78.29-million iPhones in its last financial quarter. Oh, and it has $246 billion in cash on hand. And it is working away on the next generation of products and innovations.
So much for the talking heads.
This week also saw a new study from transportation analysts Frost & Sullivan landing in my inbox. Titled “Mobile Apps Driving Trucking Industry Transformation in North America, 2016-2017,” the report focuses on the use of smartphones and how they're quickly becoming a mandatory piece of equipment for pretty much anybody working in the trucking industry today.
In fact, according to this report, smartphones will likely be the foundational building blocks that take trucking into a new world of integrated operations and efficiency. In short, as every conceivable aspect of our lives becomes wired into constant-flow, real-time, fully integrated, data-driven, information stream, the smartphone will be the point of delivery and interface that allows us to navigate, update and access that virtual world.
In real world terms, the report says, this will mean the end of paperwork, while removing many of the competitive advantages that large fleets enjoy and the barriers to entry that hamper small fleets.
The result will be a technology explosion that will lead to enhanced, visibility, and competitiveness among owner-operators and small fleets. Large
