5 Transportation Trends to Watch in 2024

The supply chain has experienced a wild ride in recent years, and part of that is due to the fact that the transportation industry is changing. And while emerging technologies drive some of it, so do more classic requirements, including cost-cutting, labor challenges, and the need for greater efficiency. 

 

 

According to experts, there are some big trends coming for transportation.

 

 

1. Autonomous Vehicles

One of the biggest may be autonomous vehicles. A recent trends report developed by StartUs Insights put this at the top of the list after studying more than 5,000 startups and emerging companies. They say that driverless trucks will enable logistics companies to both improve safety and reduce emissions, as well as address driver shortages. Adding to their automated options, StartUs predicts increasing commercialization of delivery drones.

 

 

2. Digitization

Another trend on the horizon is digitization. In a piece for Forbes, Sedat Saka, president of the New York-based logistics company MTS Transportation, recently suggested that digitization will finally transition from a buzzword into action. Saka believes that tools like AI and blockchain will add automation in shipping, leading to an increasingly paperless logistics process.

 

 

3. Climate-Proofing

Outsourcing services firm Office Beacon believes that businesses attempting to “climate-proof” their transportation infrastructure will influence an industry trend toward sustainability. According to a recent report, Office Beacon says transportation has taken few steps to decarbonize, and pressure will increase, with regulators and consumers “demanding greater sustainability across the transportation sub-segments.” This could take the form of more electric or hydrogen-powered trucks or the use of sustainable fuels.

 

 

4. Last-Mile Deliveries

Another expected trend is a focus on last-mile delivery. Long considered the most labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly part of the commercial transportation equation, plan on seeing more innovations around leveraging real-time data, route optimization tools, and robotics in order to optimize deliveries.

 

 

5. Mobility as a Service

Finally, just as pay-as-you-go type options proliferate in other sectors, experts see the applications in commercial transport as well. One is Mobility as a Service — or, MaaS — which can be used by companies to assess their transportation options and book multiple modes through one platform in an on-demand fashion.

 

 

The biggest takeaway here seems to be that innovation in the transportation sector is accelerating, with multiple opportunities that benefit shippers, drivers, consumers, and even the planet.

 

Source: Thomasnet