2021 Technology Trends In The Transportation Sector

Technology is famously driven by need, and this is particularly the case in the transportation and logistics sector. Indeed, with the rapidly changing demands consumers place on transportation and shipping services, adopting the latest tech seems to be one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways of keeping the pace. Keep reading for the top trends we can expect this year!

Trend 1 – Wider application of GPS technology

The first trend in the transportation sector that we can expect is a wider adoption and application of GPS technology. Of course, tech such as the Trimble GPS products are already being used to help plan and guide drivers along their route. However, there are other useful applications for GPS to consider as well.

One of these that particularly has the potential to go far is the use of GPS for tracking and traceability. Indeed, with the right tech GPS can enable businesses to keep a close eye on everything from a single item to their entire transport fleet. Of course, the main benefit offered is that they will be able to pass on this up-to-the-minute information to their customers, something that helps to provide a better customer experience, manage customer expectations and even prevent packages and ships from going missing.

Trend 2 – More effective delivery to individual addresses

Delivery to individual addresses is big news in the transport sector, even before the whole world was instructed to stay at home because of the pandemic! Indeed, you can expect developments in all kinds of tech that make the ‘last mile’ of delivery (getting it from a shipping center to the customer’s address) much more efficient.

One way that businesses will be adapting to this need is by investing in smaller vehicles so they can perform this function themselves. While others will be making use of the logistics infrastructure already in place eg, with delivery fulfilled by another business like Amazon.

However, these are certainly not the only tech trends in transport that we can expect this year. Indeed, two other more high-tech approaches are set to revolutionize delivery address logistics. The first of these is drone delivery, originally seen as something of a joke. Customers demand for same day, almost instantaneous deliveries to their address make this one of the most practical and cost-efficient options.

Then there are the delivery robots, which some people are already seeing on the streets. These small container robots are a secure method of ‘last-mile delivery,’ only allowing entry to their cargo with the use of a QR code on the phone of a customer. They also remove the need for any human interaction, which in the post-pandemic world is likely to be another major plus.

Trend 3 – The use of cloud-based systems in transportation

Finally, the last trend you can expect to see in the transportation sector this year is the adoption of cloud-based systems. What this means is instead of running the complex logistics software on static servers integrated into each business, providers will switch to working with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model instead.

The benefits of such a switch include faster operational times, less downtime, and even better scalability. Something that means transport businesses can dial up (or down) their computing power as needed, and remain as agile as possible in a highly competitive market.