www.truckandtrack.com Autumn 2023 Truck and Track 35 INTERMODAL TRANSPORT SOFTWARE plenty of them. You know as well as I do how unpredictable the behaviour of our fellow road users can be. In view of these developments, I find it striking that many transport companies are reluctant to digitise planning. We will only be able to switch to autonomous trucks if the planning has been digitised. And how difficult can that be? Determining the departure and end points of a truck seems to me to be the easiest part of a fully autonomous transport operation to digitise. More than automation Okay, before we deal with fully autonomous transport operations, we are five, ten or fifteen years on. And of course, your planners do a bit more than just determine the departure and end points of a truck. The trick is to distribute different shipments among the various trucks as efficiently as possible, while also considering all kinds of restrictions such as driving and rest times, delivery times and vehicle specifications. But even then, digitisation is an innovative idea. Digitisation is much more than automation. We have been doing the latter for decades by automating sub-processes with the help of IT systems. Digitisation goes a step further and means that we have complete processes and even complete operations run digitally from start to finish. So, without having to manually enter transport orders, without having to print paper ride lists and without having to juggle with data in spreadsheets. More time for problems Digitisation makes life easier for transport companies. We no longer spend time on manual actions that have no added value. We do not have to stress out of errors caused by incorrectly copied data. There is no need to request information yourself because we are automatically warned if something does not go according to plan. In fact, we are made aware of bottlenecks in the operation and viable solutions without having to do anything ourselves. There are opportunities, especially in the field of trip planning. This is especially true for planners who spend most of their time distributing transport orders across vehicles. A digital trip planning system does the same job at the touch of a button. Not all trips from the route planning system planning proposal are perfect. But it is already included if a planner can take over a few trips from the proposal without making any adjustments. This leaves more time for the rides that cause problems. Motorisation vs digitisation The transport pioneers from the beginning of this story have made the right choice. They have motorised their fleet and have been able to expand their business. Their colleagues who have stuck to horse and cart have priced themselves out of the market. At least I do not know their companies anymore. Now you are faced with a similar choice. Do you opt for digitisation or not? If you ask me, you have no choice. The question is not whether your company will digitise, but when. PTV Logistics are exhibiting at the Fleet & Mobility Live exhibition this October. Join us to find out more about the advantages of route planning & optimisation software. We have an extensive product portfolio and would be happy to discuss your requirements in more detail. OptiFlow SaaS Route Optimisation PTV Axylog Real-time transportation visibility platform PTV Route Optimiser Route Optimisation & Scheduling PTV Developer Next Generation Location Service APIs PTV Map&Guide Truck Route Planning & Calculation PTV Navigator Professional Truck Navigation without digitisation +44 (0) 121 585 6633 www.ptvlogistics.com enquiries.uk@ptvlogistics.com
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