Five technologies that will drive your freight forward faster
08 May 2018
GHD: With the freight task set to double over the next fifteen years in New South Wales alone, how can technology be used to manage the uplift in demand, enhance the customer experience, and increase operational efficiency?
Here are five emerging
technologies to keep an eye on:
5G
The next bandwidth boost for mobile telecommunications has the potential
to disrupt shipping, port terminals, manual handling, warehousing and
maintenance by freeing up and speeding up the communications experience
through the
Internet of Things.
Singtel Optus will begin rolling out a 5G fixed network in early 2019
following successful trials with speeds 15 times faster than current
technologies. The company recently launched an outdoor trial for 5G New
Radio and showcased the technology at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth
Games, including trials of its mobile network.
Telstra is also forging ahead with the launch of its 5G Innovation
Centre on the
Gold Coast, and Australia’s first test of 5G in a moving
vehicle. The telco too will offer its first services in 2019.
GHD is already involved in assisting clients with assessing the impact
of 5G on their communications future. Colin Dominish, GHD’s Sydney
Market Leader Transport, states, “Clients are only just realising the
benefits this new technology can bring to their business, and yet it is
almost upon us. The time to think about it is now.”
Blockchain
This technology has the potential to enable global container carriers to
create a universal, standardised ledger system with much more efficient
processes. A new consortium called the Blockchain in Transport Alliance
(BiTA) is working to apply blockchain to facilitate the process of
recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. As a
standards organisation, BiTA aims to create a common framework to spur
the development of blockchain applications for logistics management,
asset tracking, transaction processing and more. Matching shippers with
carriers is just one of the problems blockchain could solve.
Big data analytics
Information about what freight needs to go where already exists in
multiple different systems and forms.
Big data aggregators are preparing
to disrupt the industry by bringing all that data together with online
options for enhancing efficiencies. For instance, reuse and
triangulation of empty containers can be assessed in comparison to the
cost of return to parks, enabling the right decisions to be made for
their next trip. Big data has the potential to link more varied loads,
equipment, timing, and supply-demand across all geographical locations,
regardless of industry.
For example, Uber Freight Australia pairs up trucking companies,
including independent operators, with loads that need to be hauled from
one place to another. The app looks a lot like the main Uber app, but
it’s targeted towards vetted and approved drivers, who can browse for
nearby available loads, see destination information, distance required
and payment upfront and then tap to book. This can streamline something
that used to take hours of back and forth negotiation via phone or other
communication, putting it in a simple workflow with confirmation of job
acceptance and rates paid within a few seconds.
GHD has recently assisted a state government organisation ensure its
spatial data library was a single point of truth across a complex
project. This included the management and maintenance of all data, data
versioning and document control for this multi-year project. The
analysis pointed to better ways to enhance where road and rail networks
converged to enable enhanced freight productivity by upgrading the sites
where they met.
Micah Clark, GHD’s Sydney Market Leader Rail, says,
“Using technology to provide that single point of truth will help
provide users with reliability assurance, enhancing multimodal
optimisation across supply chains”.
Delivery drones
Amazon has already launched the idea of a “drone highway”, and the first
phase of New York’s 50-mile long
drone test corridor took place in
September 2017 at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York.
AERO Token, an Ethereum-based blockchain technology, enables and easily
facilitates the consent of property owners for low-altitude drone flight
over private property, potentially paving the way for drone highway
infrastructure within the US. Governments in Australia are looking at
the role that drones could play in “final mile” deliveries of cargo,
where ordinarily delivery vehicles have to battle congested roads.
Road management and systems
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and other transport management
systems, along with increased regulations of heavy vehicle speed and
road use, are already being rolled out in a number of Australian cities
to enhance road productivity and increase safety.
GHD was recently engaged to undertake a review of traffic management
practice in an Australian state capital, including ITS systems used on
the network. We made recommendations for improvements to network
management approaches, including the need for planning and strategy
development to inform an operational framework.
These systems are the forerunners of how increased automation will
transform the road network. For example, Peloton Technology, a developer
of connected and automated vehicle systems for US and global freight
carriers, conducted a live demonstration of driver-assistive truck
platooning in Michigan in November 2017.
The freight industry is one that is often out of sight and out of mind,
but its services are essential to our economy and our personal lives.
Its future is taking shape today, with both existing players and new
market entrants using technology to bridge the gap between our
constantly growing demand for freight and our constrained
infrastructure.
GHD is sponsoring the Committee for Economic Development
Australia (CEDA) NSW Transport Series again in 2018. Join
Colin, Micah and the GHD team at the upcoming “Drivers, Demand and
Disruption in Freight” event 12 pm- 2pm on Friday 25 May to hear how
freight is currently being disrupted by technology in Australia and
around the world.
--ENDS--
Source: GHD - www.ghd.com
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