For companies trying to gain a competitive edge, taking advantage of recent technological advances in transportation and infrastructure can reduce costs and improve the efficiency of delivering products and supplies.

Transportation remains one of the highest costs of doing business across the industrial sector. In particular, unnecessary energy consumption due to inefficient routes or business processes increases expenditure.

New advances in communications technology, data analysis and smart infrastructure are enabling more businesses to streamline their transportation strategies through better trip-planning and improved resource allocation. Harnessing these advancements is likely to become a key part of remaining competitive in the transportation sector in the future.

According to a report from technology consulting firm Accenture, the emerging use of sensor telemetry may provide major benefits to transportation efficiency. Implementing and coordinating sensor technology enables companies to track each truck or container in real-time, “ensuring that the right equipment is in the right place to anticipate demand and possibly even reducing the overall size of the fleet required.”

This degree of transparency increases the turn cycle and cuts down on costs. Sensors can also reduce certain administrative requirements by providing automated fuel tax calculations and “could help on the truck maintenance side, monitoring engine components and alerting the driver to the need for preventative maintenance before costly breakdowns occur,” Accenture notes.

Some major firms in the transportation sector are taking aggressive steps to integrate sensor systems into their existing fleets, including UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company. SmartPlanet.com reports that “approximately 63 sensors are being added to each package car; that data is combined with the information being collected by that little handheld that UPS drivers carry to keep tabs on packages.” According to the tech blog, “There are about 55,000 vehicles in the UPS fleet in the domestic United States, approximately 22,000 will be outfitted by these sensors before the end of 2010. (With another 10,000 trucks on schedule to be outfitted in 2011.)”

One of the immediate benefits of introducing these sensors has been a reduction in idling time, which saves UPS 25 gallons of fuel per driver each year. The company is also planning to link sensor systems with traffic data to help drivers navigate the most efficient route between locations.

Apart from sensors that can be equipped in individual vehicles, broader advances to the United States transportation network may improve travel efficiency as a whole. The concept of an intelligent transportation system (ITS) that minimizes travel time in any region has long been a goal of transportation planners, and it is now closer than ever to being realized.

“The idea of ITS, at its most basic, is to connect every vehicle in a network of transportation users that instantly tracks and shares information,” Wired.com’s Autopia blog explains. “Ideally, everyone will be able to quickly determine where the accidents and tie-ups are and what routes can be taken to avoid them.” The result: “quicker drive times by way of more efficient traffic patterns and planned-out routes created for you in real time.”

The initial investment required to implement such technologies may seem prohibitive, but the long-term cost savings could more than make up for the expenditure, particularly considering the benefits it would provide to commercial vehicle traffic.

“If the United States were to implement a national real-time traffic information program, the GAO [Government Accountability Office] estimates the present value cost of establishing and operating the program would be $1.2 billion, but would deliver present value benefits of $30.2 billion, a 25 to 1 benefit-cost ratio,” according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

The federal government has already taken notice of the potential advantages of ITS. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s ITS Strategic Plan, 2010-2014 envisions “a national, multi-modal surface transportation system that features a connected transportation environment among vehicles, the infrastructure and passengers’ portable devices. This connected environment will leverage technology to maximize safety, mobility and environmental performance.”

The Transportation Dept. is investing in a number of new transportation technologies, including: $11.5 million for vehicle-to-vehicle safety communications; $9.3 million for vehicle-to-infrastructure communications, such as traffic signal and timing updates; $2 million for real-time data capture and management for assessing traffic, transit and freight movement patterns; and $8 million for dynamic mobility applications to find optimal ways for people and goods to be transferred between different modes of transportation.

Earlier: “Smart” Infrastructure on the Rise

Resources

Transportation Companies: Using Sensor Telemetry to Map Their Route
Accenture, 2006

What Do Sensors Say About Your Corporate Efficiency?
by Heather Clancy
SmartPlanet, June 22, 2010

Glimpse the Wireless Future of Transportation
by Jason Kambitsis
Autopia (Wired.com), Feb. 19, 2010

Explaining International IT Application Leadership: Intelligent Transportation Systems
by Stephen Ezell
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, January 2010

ITS Strategic Research Plan, 2010-2014
U.S. Department of Transportation, Dec. 8, 2009