Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/573961
ing" everything from scratch. They'll scan your body and print clothes fitted exactly to your body shape; they'll build whole houses with the electrical wiring and plumbing already in place; and put roofs on existing houses. And when your technicians need a part, they'll enter the code, and the machine will build it in the shop. • Super highways filled with autono- mous trucks will connect every point on the globe. It will be possible to start a trip in Terra del Fuego in Argentina, drive the length of South and North America, cross new bridges spanning the Bering Sea into Russia, continue on to Spain, cross another new super bridge at Gibraltar and drive down to Capetown, South Africa. Or if you like, you could take a left and head down to Korea and cross the new bridge into Japan. F or a long time in the truck- ing industry, simply opt- ing out of new technology was a pretty solid business strategy. If your trucks were a year or two old and you were on a long- term trade cycle when something new came out, it was perfectly fine to let the other guys wrestle with it and figure out how to make it work while your faithful old rigs kept roaring down the road. In an age of cheap fuel, the com- petitive advantages of new technology often were minimal. Moreover, when the time came to refresh your fleet, you simply could leverage what your competitors already had learned and integrate new technology into your operations fairly easily. Those days are pretty much dead and gone. The incredible consumer- side tech push that started in the 1970s finally has caught up to truck- ing. Everything's wired together, sensors are everywhere, communica- tion is constant, and the government is pushing new technology on fleets the minute it becomes commercially viable. There are new fuels and bat- tery systems to assimilate. Meanwhile, a new Internet-fueled global super- economy is forcing ever faster and leaner operations from fleets. Here's just a taste of some of the new tech and trends you'll soon face: • Three-dimensional printing machines using multiple materials will be everywhere and "manufactur- 24 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2015 PRODUCT REVIEWS, OEM & SUPPLIER NEWS AND EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT TRENDS BY JACK ROBERTS Industry no longer can opt out of evolving tech A fast and furious future for trucking WHEN FUEL WAS CHEAP: The competitive advantages of new technology often were minimal. A LONG TIME COMING: The incredible consumer-side tech push nally has caught up to trucking. WORTH THE INVESTMENT: While the challenges may be enormous, the rewards will be as well. Worldwide shifts in freight patterns, combined with infrastructure changes such as smart highways, connected vehicles and super bridges, will make trucking a truly global- ized industry.