Few industries have been as intertwined with technological advancement as transportation. From Henry Ford’s assembly line to the onset of the Uber age, technological innovation has ensured that our highways are constantly changing landscapes. So, what developments can we expect over the next decade? Here are a few likely changes.
Decentralized Freight
The freight industry is fragmented--90% of carriers have fewer than six trucks, and 50% are one-truck operations. These numerous smaller carriers are often plagued by “empty miles,” meaning the driver must take an empty vehicle from a drop-off point for one load to a pick-up point for another. Empty miles are wasteful. They increase the industry’s carbon footprint and wear down infrastructure without offering any actual productivity. They are expensive and dangerous for the drivers themselves -- owner/operators usually receive no payment for empty miles, and trucks are far more likely to crash when empty.
Despite their inefficiency, empty miles remain very common because managing shipping contracts is difficult. Drivers often miss out on loads that could make their mileage less “empty” simply because they have no way of learning about or connecting with those shippers. The industry has traditionally relied on brokers, but each broker’s efficiency is limited by the size of their network.
The rise of sophisticated digital platforms will eventually make “missed connections” between carriers and shippers and render empty miles a thing of the past. Of course, shipping contracts involve plenty of financial exposure, so these platforms will only be as valuable as the trust generated by the agreements on them.
Fr8 Network is launching a decentralized platform to forge connections among shippers and carriers. It is built on top of a blockchain cryptocurrency, the Fr8 Token. The Fr8 Network bi-directional matching system helps carriers find shipments for both their outbound and inbound trips. Fr8 Tokens, which are required to access the platform, employ smart contracts and automatic escrow to ensure agreements made on the Fr8 Board are enforced and trustworthy.
More Electric Cars
Electric vehicles (EVs) have seen a rapid surge in popularity in recent years thanks in part to innovation at Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). Roughly one in six cars on global roads could be electric by 2025. By 2040, almost all passenger vehicles in the developed world could be electric. EVs are particularly sought after by environmentalists for two main reasons: these cars produce nearly no emissions during their day-to-day operation and their grid-based fuel means they can be powered by renewable electricity sources.
One of the main obstacles to even broader EV adoption is “range anxiety,” a term for the fear of finding yourself chargeless in mid-journey. Consumers also worry about long charging times. While gas or diesel vehicles can cover fairly long distances on one tank of fuel and be replenished in a few minutes, EVs have historically had shorter ranges and lengthy charging times.
Taking a multi-day road trip in an electric car might present certain challenges, but some researchers have argued that “range anxiety” is overblown. A recent MIT study found that EVs could replace about 87% of personal vehicle traffic in America using currently available range capabilities. Also, more and more infrastructure will emerge to support electric cars, further mitigating range and charging time concerns.
USA Today reports that the number of charging stations installed in the US will dramatically increase in 2018. Two major energy companies in Europe are building an “electric highway” running from Norway to Italy, with over 180 charging stations along it to render this long-distance journey feasible for electric cars. The stations can deliver a full charge in under thirty minutes, which is comparable to a road trip lunch stop.
Communicating Cars
Communication between cars, or V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), sounds like science fiction, but it is already out there on the roads. Cadillac’s 2017 CTS Sedans were released with V2V communication features that can broadcast their location, speed, direction, and local traffic conditions up to about 300 meters away. V2V-enabled vehicles can monitor each other’s positions and reduce collisions even when their human drivers aren’t paying attention.
Over 40,000 people died in car crashes in the US during 2017, so any technology that significantly increases road safety could be a life-saving game changer for the entire transportation industry. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration even proposed (but later withdrew) a rule requiring all new cars to feature V2V by about 2023. Driverless cars may or may not need V2V when or if they become a mainstream phenomenon, but some industry voices have argued for wider implementation of basic V2V as a safety measure while the far more complicated task of a designing a truly driverless car is accomplished.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
