The world is changing so fast. New businesses appear with their new needs and requirements. Manufacturing processes are altering, too. No wonder, all these can’t but affect the logistics industry. If you are a carrier, freight forwarder, or a 3PL broker, you definitely want to know what you should expect and what the main changes in logistics will happen. Below you find some useful and interesting information.
More, More, and More Technologies
Technologies are developing so fast. You do not need to wait for ages until manual worker labels all the boxes. With the help of special robots, this task is completed within several minutes. The same is true about proper packaging of the materials.
There are several advantages of implementing more innovative technologies in freight forwarding. They are the following:
- It’s possible to minimize mistakes. When it comes to standard, typical tasks, bots are unlikely to make mistakes. Their calculations are always accurate.
- It speeds up the process of transportation. Thanks to innovative technologies, it becomes easier to reduce the total time of cargo delivery.
- It makes it easier to cope with more tasks within a shorter period of time.
Fewer Trains, More Electric Cars
Truck logistics won’t disappear at all. Yet, it is to come through significant transformations. It’s not a secret that even nowadays some modes of transportation are not popular anymore. First of all, it’s about delivering the goods and items by trains and ships. They are still used only when there is no more effective alternative. Yet, even now more and more freight forwarders use electronic cars while they are eco-friendly. At the moment, they are not affordable for all carriers but the situation seems to be changed soon.
Yet, even in the future, when looking for the most effective way to deliver your cargo from one point to another, it’s necessary to take into consideration the following aspects:
- Deadlines. Not every freight broker is able to order cargo from California to Alaska in 6 hours (you can hardly find a broker who will admit such an order, by the way). At the same time, you are unlikely to wait for ages until your cargo arrives.
- The peculiarities of the cargo. It takes more effort to organize the delivery of non-standard items. The same is true about dangerous substances or chemicals.
- Additional services. If you order such extra options as labeling, door-to-door delivery, or uploading, you are to be ready to pay more. Moreover, it takes more time.
Human Resources
If you think that people will be replaced by bots in the future and the number of workers can be minimized, you are wrong. Moreover, a lack of competent drivers or mechanics may become a serious problem in the future. Although the greater part of boring and repetitive tasks is to be completed by machines, humans still need to control the whole process of freight forwarding. It’s up to people to check and control whether all the processes run well. So, modern freight forwarding differs greatly from it ten years ago. No wonder, future logistics will acquire new traits and peculiarities. It’s up to you to be ready to meet changes and be ready to respond to new demands.