Summary
When the economy cycles, transport companies look away from adding capacity and back toward productivity gains and other efficiencies to add to profitability. This is happening again.
Tying appropriate software together with the most cost-effective data transmission mode requires customer analysis, not the “ours is best - you figure out how to use it” approach. Satellite v. cell v. WiFi v. on vehicle v. handheld v. ??? are the still open questions. We also must throw RFID, getting rid of paper, etc. into the mix.
Trimble’s purchase of @Road has teamed up a platform provider with a software developer needing a platform. While the combined entity addresses a variety of mobile service industries, the trucking industry is wide open for someone to address it.
Analysis
Mobile Resource Management (MRM) is a part of the huge opportunity in the trucking industry with the majority of the trucking companies yet to be addressed. Truck / trailer manufacturers are getting further into platforms, but they can really only monitor what is going on in the truck and supply the hookups for others systems. A real opportunity has to do with the freight, its movements, temperatures, etc. - and it’s in the trailer.
Other than a few providers (such as Qualcomm), software and device makers have been somewhat disconnected, while waiting for the build out of the different wireless protocols. Recent mergers in the wireless industry have lessened the number of protocols and are also making potential users open to talking again.
Having been actively involved in this process from early on, I purchased Qualcomm units in the early-90’s for trucks we ran. The first benefit was keeping truck drivers away from pay phones (was pre-cell usage), saving time, theft and parking scrapes. After 2000, I was involved in assisting AT&T Wireless with trucking (including at @Road), but that was when the GSM protocol was just coming out. Then there was work with data over Nextel phones.
The problem for satellite communication still today is cost of data flow, resulting in many trucking companies disabling macros (and not realizing those efficiencies). The real answer falls into lower cost approaches including cell and WiFi - or a mix. Electronic bills-of-lading, proof-of-delivery, signature capture, RFID, picture capture, automatic billing, cash management, getting rid of paper, etc. are huge issues for everyone in the supply chain and require wide bandwidth’s. This includes shippers, receivers and the logistics folks who desire similar efficiencies.
Recent surveys show that over 95% of truck drivers have cell phones, so some real simple approaches are being utilized today (such as SMS). Others systems are much more sophisticated, but most trucking companies want tailored systems. Over-the-road truckers like Cingular best with Verizon next, while local folks liking Nextel best. Data flow over all wireless systems will grow. A simple device on the truck, a simple device on trailer and handheld for driver will be the longer-term approach. The FedEx / UPS approach is a good comparative model.
With the potential Federal electronic driver logbook mandate coming, this may be the impetus to start to wrap in other data services. There are a few folks who understand these needs - but most still need a lesson in Trucking 101 to address the majority of the industry. The world is the marketplace, but the money is still in North America.
