Getting your freight from one location to another is always a big challenge. Whether you’re sending your products by land, sea or air, there lots of complex logistics to take into account. At Equator Worldwide we are at the forefront of the shipping industry and are always looking for the best ways to ship for our customers.

But what does the future of freight transportation look like?

And is it going to make things easier for businesses around the world? Here we take a closer look at some innovations that may be just around the corner.

The Future is Big Data

We might not be able to see it, but big data is all around us and is having a profound impact on practically everything in modern life. Big data collects a lot of information and uses it to make more accurate and meaningful decisions.

With regards to carrying freight around the world, big data analysis might enable businesses to choose the most cost-effective options for delivery or analyse traffic and weather and make a realistic assessment of how it might affect those costs. More efficient operations that can be altered in real-time may mean costs coming down and a lower impact on the environment.

This use of big data requires businesses to have a deeper, digital approach and to actively gather the information that improves their services. The truth is that some freighting businesses haven’t been too proactive in using digital products to improve their services by employing approaches such as tracking software. Expect that to change very soon.

Uber Freight

Building a relationship with a freight company should mean you develop a service that you can depend on. There’s been a recent potential development, however, called the ‘uberization’ of freight transportation that may change things, some think for the better.

Just like your taxi, you could now have an app and choose your freight carrier without entering into a long-term relationship. Many ships leave port without having a full freight load which can make it expensive and less efficient than it should be.

If potential freight customers have access to up-to-date shipping information via an app, they can make better use of the available space on air carriers and ships and streamline their process at the same time.

It could mean that a freight business operates close to full cost-effectiveness at all times. That should reduce the industry’s impact on the environment at the same time.

Driverless Vehicles

You may have seen articles in the media about driverless cars. While there is a lot of work still to do in this area, we’re closer than many people think when it comes to automated transportation.

A pilot has already undertaken for a large 25-tonne truck in Cambridge and a lot of research and development has gone into developing new vehicles for transporting goods on our roads. The benefits to businesses could well be reduced delivery time and more efficient fuel consumption. That’s if we can get the technology right.

These future changes to the freight shipping industry may well deliver dramatic benefits to a broad range of businesses. It may be some time before we see whole fleets of autonomous lorries on the roads, but many companies are already using big data to streamline their processes, lower their costs and benefit their customers.

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