BIG TRUCKS AND BIG DATA: OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIER PERFORMANCE AND PROFITABILITY

摘要

In the United States, the average for-hire truck drives 489 miles each time it hauls freight. With forecasts of total worldwide sales of 11.8 million self-driving automotive and commercial trucks by 2035, these vehicles will generate large volumes of information - or Big Data - while in operation. On the average, today's commercial vehicle generates about 1 terabyte of data annually. The existence of these data creates the opportunity for fleet operators to improve their operations with respect to a host of performance measures including pricing, routing, asset tracking and utilization, maintenance, and fuel optimization. Also, the existence of these data creates the opportunity for automated government audit and enforcement efforts. The volume of data is overwhelming, and, absent any analysis that can turn interesting data into actionable information, many carriers are unable to take advantage of Big Data opportunities. Third-party vendors are introducing systems that can change all that.