User Conference Highlights the Fast Pace of Change
Panel at PeopleNet presentation during the in.sight User Conference + Expo. Photo: Trimble
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Panel at PeopleNet presentation during the in.sight User Conference + Expo. Photo: Trimble
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Change and its quickening pace was an over-riding theme at Trimble’s in.sight user conference for TMW Systems and PeopleNet customers that kicked off Aug. 14 in Nashville.
Connected trucks, e-commerce, autonomous vehicles and ELDs were singled out as potential change agents pushing the trucking industry’s future. David Wangler, president of TMW Systems, noted pace of change over just the last few decades saying, “the pace of change is accelerating” and that businesses could no longer think “on a linear basis. We need to think exponentially.”
Brian McLaughlin, president of PeopleNet noted that the two companies, along with other Trimble business units in the transportation sector were there to help customers “solve the problems of an ever-changing supply chain.”
The good news, Wangler said, was that the transportation industry thrives on challenge. One of which is to acknowledge that in the industry, “what was fixed, is becoming more dynamic” as customer expectations continue to rise and shippers and transportation face greater pressure to meet these expectations.
That is why both companies say a focus on the “final mile” of a shipment has become more important. “Increasingly, carriers are developing local delivery units,” Wangler said. Carriers are also under increased pressure to provide real-time visibility of loads all along the supply chain. And, they must have a way to squeeze more costs out of the last mile since it accounts for about 50% of the total transportation costs. Carriers will be under pressure from shippers to help them reduce these costs.
Another positive of the changing nature of trucking is that “transportation is an amazing space for innovation,” McLaughlin said. The vision was for a connected supply chain including connected trucks, drivers, freight and business intelligence. It’s moved from “vision to reality in record time.”
