Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/442406
THE WINDOW IS OPEN. AGENTS WANTED | 800-872-5999 PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES. ELIMINATING OBSTACLES. T he next generation of carriers is headed toward a connected world. e power of the handheld device is and will transform the trucking industry. Approximately 70 percent of drivers today use a smartphone or tablet. is gives carriers access to electronic logs, driver workflow and performance monitoring. Drivers have access to more than 1 million apps depending on the platform they use. A recent study done by the Google Play Store shows drivers are using apps for navigation, to monitor weather, entertainment and staying connected with friends and family. e power of these devices is incredible. In a recent article by Apple, they boast the new iPhone 6 is 1 million times more powerful than the computer used to land Apollo 11 on the moon. Apollo 11's computer had 2K of memory and 32K of storage. Today, the iPhone 6 has 128GBs of storage making the possibilities virtually limitless for drivers. e tremendous power and low cost of the handheld device has allowed smaller trucking companies to enjoy the benefits typically only enjoyed by larger companies. Load searching, load tracking and compliance can now be done for as little as $35 a month. Carriers allow their driver's access to the apps on the device that increase company efficiencies while locking them out of others that may be distracting while on the road. Currently there are apps that lockdown the mobile device while the vehicle is in motion. With more than 400 billion miles logged by trucks annually, it is important drivers are not distracted by mobility. e next generation in the trucking industry will capture, analyze and report on vast amounts of information by using the technology in the handheld device. Connecting and collaborating with employees and customers over a secure cloud platform increases productivity across the entire supply chain. Twenty years ago, tapping into a mobile application to bypass a weigh station, send a POD or dispatch a load seemed impossible. e next 20 years will provide incredible technological advancements due in large part to the use of mobile devices. Moving Mobile HEADING TOWARD A CONNECTED WORLD BY NICK REED, uDrove ® GENERAL MANAGER 6 IT MAGAZINE Vo l . 9 , N o . 1