Top 10 Tech Transportation Industry Trends in 2021

Transportation Industry Trends have a huge impact on the adaptation of transportation and delivery services with the new technologies.

By growing eCommerce businesses, more and more companies are selling their goods over the internet which in return increases the demand for shipment and delivery of goods ordered by people all around the world. It is obvious that the old and traditional methods for transportation can not meet all the requirements of them.

Fortunately, the latest progress and innovation made by scientists in the field of transportation industry technologies set to make new opportunities for all transportation and delivery services to provide better and faster services to the customers.

Stay with us to get familiar with the Top 10 tech transportation industry trends in 2021.

1. Cloud-Based Transportation Management Systems

Cloud-Based Transportation Management Systems (TMS) is the newest software created to help transportation companies offer easy delivery services with the minimum cost possible to their customers.

TMS software integrates route planning, detailed information about orders, and reports about carrier’s works in one cloud-based platform. By using this technology as one of the most useful trends in the transportation industry, all logistics and delivery organizations can overcome a lot of problems in delivery chains and facilitate the process of delivery.

The advantages of Cloud-Based Transportation Management Systems

• Simplify control and management of orders and carries
• Report valuable information based on the real-time data
• Provide customer data including shipping address, exact locations, order status
• Improve the productivity of logistic companies
• Facilitate the transportation process by making direct communication between carriers and managers possible

2. Mobility as a Service (MaaS)

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) or Transportation as a service is one of the most interesting Tech transportation industry trends in 2021. The innovative idea behind this trend is to share the vehicle or transportation methods between the users who need it at the same time in the same place.

This is easily possible through software installed on smart mobile phones. That’s why sometimes this new technology is called Smart Mobility. Using this new technology in transportation is the best way to save on delivery time, reduce the traffic problem and increase the productivity of delivery services.

The advantages of Mobility as a service in the Transportation industry

• Suggest the best and fastest delivery method to the customers to plan their shipment
• Simplify the process of ordering shipment for users as the MaaS software is available any time and anywhere on smartphones, tablets, computers, etc.
• Facilitate the communication between customers and logistic organizations

3. A Real-Time Locating System

The Real-Time Locating System without a doubt is a useful technology trend in the transportation industry. The purpose of this new trend in logistic systems is to make controlling and managing the delivery process much easier for transportation companies.

RTLS is a software or application that receives a signal from a transponder that is attached to a person or vehicle to report the accurate and exact location of it in real-time to the receivers. This is very helpful for transportation managers to be able to track and locate all their assets to manage the delivery process more efficiently.

The newest technology trends in Real-Time locating systems use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags as the transponders. However, it is also possible to use Bluetooth Beacons, Wi-Fi, Ultrasound or Infrared Tags, and many other technologies to send and receive the locating signal.

The advantages of using RTLS in the Transportation industry

• Using IT infrastructure to receive location data in an existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system
• Increase the speed of delivery by managing the assets closer to the placed orders to collect and transport the goods
• Receiving alerts if transponders leave a predefined area resulted in much better auditing of carriers and controlling their movements

4. Self-Driving Transportation

Autonomous transportation or Self-Driving Transportation is definitely the most effective trend in the future of the transportation industry. Driverless transport systems developed by combining different types of technologies such as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for tracking location, robust sensors for remote vehicle guiding, and electrically powered transport machines together.

The traditional delivery services and logistic systems will be replaced by These advanced trends in the transportation industry shortly to make a revolution in mobility and motion planning.

5. Blockchain in the logistic industry

The main purpose of using blockchain in the transportation industry is to lowest the time and the cost of delivery. This a new technology trend helping logistic organizations to perform complex transportation operations in an optimized way to send products from one place to another very fast and cheaper.

Blockchain technology uses a decentralized network enabling peers to record all transactions, create an efficient and transparent system, and also track assets with all required documentation without any need to work with a centralized authority.

As all processes of blockchain technology need to perform online, all users of this technology have access to the data from anywhere they want.

Using blockchain technology in logistics and transportation, allow all authorized users to check the process of product transportation from the manufacturer to the consumer and download the necessary documents for confirming the process.

6. Last Mile delivery Robots

Last-mile delivery Robots as its name revealed are a new technology trend in the transportation industry implementing for facilitating and increasing the speed of the last logistic step. The most effective models of Last-Mile Delivery Robots are now introduced as:

• flying drones
• unmanned ground vehicles
• legged robot
• humanoids

All of these technologies are developed to be integrated with the online delivery services, logistic software, Rentals services, and other technology trends in the logistic industry to decrease the cost and time of local transportation by eliminating common problems such as delay in delivery because of the lack of nearby parking or not finding the customer addresses.

It seems that by growing the number of online orders for delivery services due to increasing the eCommerce business, hiring last-mile delivery Robots is a must for satisfying the customers.

The advantages of hiring Last-mile delivery Robots in the transportation industry

• Providing Security by registering robots in a secure log-in system to track them in a real-time
• Increasing the Speed and quality of the delivery process
• Decreasing the cost and energy needed for the last logistic step

7. Drone Delivery or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

Drone delivery is developed as one of the newest trends in the transportation industry in which the lightweight packages attached under the body of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to be delivered on time. Using delivery drones play a crucial role in the transportation of time-sensitive products such as medicine.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are usually built like a flyer with 4-8 propellers powered by some rechargeable batteries to fly a short distance at a high speed and to be controlled remotely and operate autonomously.

The advantages of using Drone Delivery in the transportation industry

• Increase the speed of the last mile delivery process
• Eliminate the transportation problems such as heavy traffic, unplanned stops, etc.
• Reduce the cost of delivery services for lightweight and small packages

8. Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics has a great influence on making better decisions, improving the quality of services, and enhancing the performance of every business and industry.

The transportation and logistic industry need to apply Predictive analytics as well to better understand the requirements of customers in the future and provide suitable services to meet these requirements in the long run.

There are a lot of different technologies and software utilizing them as a useful solution for Predictive analytics in the transportation industry. These technologies experience huge progress in recent years thanks to the development of informative technology, online applications, real-time services, etc.

By gathering data from all possible sources such as TMS, Blockchain, Rtls, etc. faster and easier, the predictive analytics solutions are now able to bring benefits in different aspects of logistic and transportation such as:

• Improving the visibility of shipment status and location;
• Avoiding costs related to late or off-schedule shipments;
• Creating new business opportunities by meeting visibility requirements
• Forecasting shipments based on customer demand and buying behavior
• Ensuring less waste and more on-time deliveries

9. Electric Vehicle

Electric Vehicles continue to make a big revolution in the transportation industry, delivery services, and supply chains. The need for them is known confirmed as an ideal solution for reducing congestion and carbon dioxide emissions.

The orders placed for buying electric vehicles experience a big increase in 2020 and more progress is predicted for this new technology trend in 2021. Using electric trucks, electric delivery vans and delivery drones are just a few examples of utilizing electric vehicles in the transportation industry. More is waiting for them soon.

10. Gyroscopic Vehicles

Gyroscopic vehicles are the newest version of transportation models developed for solving the most problematic issues in transportation like delays in delivery because of getting stuck in heavy traffic. The gyroscope vehicles are stimulated to raise their body and move above other vehicles on the street. Although this idea was first introduced in cartoons and comic movies, the progress in building machines with built-in stilts made using these Gyroscopic Vehicles Possible in the real world.