And one of the biggest pain points is a shortage of long-haul truck drivers.
From trucks in relay toautonomoustrucking, the world of deliveries is changing faster than many thought possible.
Short of a drone going door to door, your deliveries have never looked better.
Whats the problem with long-haul trucking?
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Simply put, long-haul trucking involves being away from home, with drivers living in their rig.
Most workers are nearer to the end of their working life than at the beginning.
Furthermore,attempts to attract younger workersare hindered by the isolation of life on the road.
Traditionally, truckers drive to their destination, unload, and drive back.
Relays occur at monitored exchange locations and by authorization through the Truckster mobile app.
Transit times are reduced by 50%.
This makes deliveries 20% more cost-efficient.
And its not the only attempt to address the long-haul worker shortage.
Autonomous truck companyTuSimpleis moving freight on a fully-automated trucking route between the Tucson and Phoenix metro areas in Arizona.
This creates seamless movement between rail, and the critical first and last miles.
One of the most significant advantages of this approach is reducing delivery costs and time.
Its easy to imagine this approach as a stop-gap between now and full automation for the trucking industry.
It will also affect truck stops.
These currently employ about 70,000 people across the US.
They concede that new opportunities at the transfer hubs may replace work hours lost by automation.
Assuming a change of role interests truck drivers.
But theres another job they might be perfect for Remote Pod Operator.
The operators arent driving the pods remotely.
Instead, they provide operational support to multiple pods at a time via their Automated Driving Systems.
Einride currently limits these roles to appropriately qualified and experienced truck drivers.
Story byCate Lawrence
Cate Lawrence is an Australian tech journo living in Berlin.
