Chapter $3$ Transportation Technology and Systems

Chapter Objectives:

After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

$1.$ Appreciate the critical role of information in transportation management.

$2.$ Explain transportation information requirements.

$3.$ Understand the capabilities of transportation software.

$4.$ Describe and differentiate between planning, execution, and performance management tools.

$5.$ Articulate the benefits of transportation management systems.

$6.$ Discuss the critical issues in technology selection and implementation.

$7.$ Recognize the important role of equipment technology in transportation sustainability, safety, and cargo security.

$8.$ Identify the disruptive technologies that will spur transportation service innovation.

Introduction

Transportation is the critical linking mechanism in the supply chain. It ensures that food, fuel, and medical supplies are readily available at the point of demand. Also critical is information about the in$-$transit freight. Transportation professionals need up$-$to$-$date knowledge about freight location, quantity, status, and expected arrival for planning, quality control, and customer service. Awareness of the product pedigree and in$-$transit temperature also are essential, according to the Transportation Profile feature. This type of knowledge ensures that food and pharmaceutical products are kept safe as they move across the cold chain.

Monitoring temperatures, managing flows, and meeting delivery deadlines cannot be accomplished manually. With so much product in motion between worldwide origin and destination points, technology is needed to maintain control and promote safe, timely, and cost$-$efficient transportation. Correctly used, these tools provide remote data collection, rapid digital communication, and decision support for transportation of products across cold chains and every other type of supply chain.

Recognizing the value and potential of transportation technology to provide greater visibility and supply chain optimization, organizations have invested vast sums of money to capture, analyze, and share critical information about their freight flows. The global market for transportation management system $($TMS$)$ software was $$9\mathrm{.}6$ billion in $2016.$ An industry report projects that TMS sales will reach $$30$ billion by the end of $2025,$ driven by the rise of mobile computing platforms, intermodal transportation, and cloud$-$based solutions.

Robust spending on transportation technology extends beyond software. Companies are investing in technologies to make their transportation equipment safer and more fuel efficient. Innovators are rapidly developing and testing drone technology and autonomous vehicles for freight movement. And, everyone is looking to harness emerging technologies like the Internet of Things $($IoT$)$ for transportation visibility, control, and decision making.

Information Requirements

Supply chains rely upon three flows$$product$,$ money, and information. Nowhere is the information aspect more relevant than in transportation. With so many transportation activities occurring after a shipment leaves your facility$$intermodal transfers, border crossings, re$-$routing, and final delivery, to name a few possibilities$$it can be very difficult to maintain control. You need accurate, timely information to stay connected to the freight. That information$-$based visibility is key to maintaining cross$-$chain knowledge, assessing situations, and taking appropriate corrective actions when a vehicle breaks down, port congestion becomes severe, or a driver goes off$-$route.

Quality Standards

Information quality is a critical characteristic of the vast amounts of data flowing across a transportation network. Value trumps volume, and transportation professionals must be sure that they are basing decisions on correct information. A twist on the seven rights of logistics definition provides clarity about what transportation information must achieve$$getting the right information to the right partners, in the right quantity, in the right format, at the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost. Change any $$right$$ to $$wrong$$ and transportation decision makers will find the information to be of limited quality and value.

To ensure that actionable knowledge readily flows between shippers, carriers, and customers, information must display a variety of key characteristics. Chief among these attributes are accuracy, accessibility, relevancy, timeliness, and transferability. Also important are issues of usability, reliability, and value.

Accuracy$$Transportation information must depict reality. A true picture of freight status and location that is free of errors facilitates logical decision making.

Accessibility$$Accurate transportation information must be available to supply chain professionals who have a legitimate need for it$,$ regardless of their role, location, or employer.

Relevancy