How Internet of Things help in Transportation and Logistics industry

The Internet of Things (IoT) has played an important role in the road transport industry and is widely used, from temperature control and predictive downtime to reducing the risk of vehicle flat tires.

According to a survey released by Statista, the manufacturing, transportation, logistics and accessories industries will invest $40 billion in IoT platforms, systems and services within two years. The Internet of Things will fundamentally change all industries, the transportation industry is no exception, and it is increasingly dependent on technology. So, how does the Internet of Things affect the transportation industry?

Internet of things in transport

Collecting vehicle and tire data using IoT sensors:

Equipping the vehicle with IoT sensors makes it easier to collect and analyze vehicle data than ever before. The data collected by the sensors enables the entire fleet to be tracked, monitored, analyzed and maintained in real time.

Tire manufacturer Continental recently launched a digital tire monitoring platform called ContiConnect, which consists of four parts:

The first being a tire sensor mounted on the tire lining to measure tire pressure and temperature.

The second part is Yard reader station:

It Yard reader station is equivalent to a “gateway” installed on the company’s premises for regular passage by commercial vehicles. For example, it can be installed in a car wash workshop, a gas station or a security checkpoint as these are the points where the vehicles of fleet visit frequently. The yard reading station is a connectivity component which receives that data from installed tire sensors of the vehicle when that enters into the premises where the Yard system is installed. After reading and collecting the data, the Yard will send it to the back end of the respective company where it can be analysed and interpreted to know about the conditions of the vehicles.

Hand-Held Tool:

This tool is the part of the ContiConnect that required to initialize the ContiConnect. The usage of this tool is assigned each sensor to the respective wheel position of the vehicle. It has the ability to connect wirelessly to the tire sensors and furthermore to import tire data to the web portal without the Yard reader station.

The third part is the basic software, which includes a web portal. From where the staff of the fleet operator can be used to monitor tires, for example, it displays the tire’s history so they can perform the retrospective analysis. Also, when a specific issue is discovered and maintenance is required, the system can send a notification to the fleet manager via email or SMS.

Internet of things- Transport of perishable goods

But the problem is not just tires, many of the goods transported in the transport industry are perishable and/or ecologically sensitive, and such goods may be affected by high or low temperatures, vibration, shock and moisture.

In the medical industry, vehicles carrying biological products and biopharmaceuticals must maintain a certain temperature during transport. If we implement IoT applications to the transport system; the drivers and operations managers could receive a warning message, if the temperature conditions deviate from the setpoint, which prevents potential hazards and life-threatening consequences.

Compliance with regulations

More and more government regulations have an impact on the road transport industry. Electronic Recording Equipment (ELD) policy in certain countries requires all car transport companies to install electronic equipment on their vehicles to automatically record the driver’s working hours.

According to regulatory requirements, truck drivers can drive no more than 11 hours a day and must have a full 10-hour break. Before this policy came into effect, most drivers, if not all drivers, used manual logs to record their driving time. Some larger transportation companies now have ELDs installed in their vehicles, while at the same time, even some of the smaller transportation companies about to meet the requirements.

Reduced waste

The mobile ELD solution enables drivers to record checks before and after driving with a smartphone or tablet, data is passed to the shipping company, and all issues are logged. This provides an active and efficient maintenance model that connects IoT trucks to help optimize maintenance schedules and avoid unnecessary mileage and vehicle idle time.

The Internet of Things has created the preconditions for optimizing the company’s day-to-day business, enabling companies to improve delivery strategies, reduce transportation costs or reduce emissions. For example, if two drivers are departing from the same location and using different routes to the same destination, sensor data will be provided. Important insights, such as which driver gets to the destination faster, pays less or saves more fuel will help companies to plan future routings in order to save fuel, reduce carbon emission and time.

Avoid downtime or identify downtime faster

Another key area for fleet operators is vehicle downtime, which is considered to be one of the biggest expense items for truck repairs, and costs will rise rapidly if it stops unexpectedly. IoT applications provide important information to fleet owners and help them to avoid future failures such as engine problems or at least identifying them faster.

The road transport industry will benefit from IoT solutions, from temperature control and predictive downtime to the reduction of dangerous tires inflation, and fleet owners and logistics coordinators will increasingly use this technology to provide customers with better service.

Source: IOT home network