A new survey commissioned by AWS and US location data platform Here Technologies has revealed how under used AI and even basic data analytics is in the transport and logistics (T&L) sector.
The industry’s latest ‘On the Move’ survey, carried out by YouGov, focussed on T&L professionals in three key logistic territories: Germany, the UK and the US.
On average, only one out of two T&L professionals across the three countries said that their organisations used basic data analytics in their organisations.
The US led the way with 63% followed by the UK, 50%, and Germany 41%.
Even location data was not being fully utilised, the survey found. In the UK for instance, only 40% of organisations said they used location technology for driver routing and less than a third of logistics firms claimed to use location data to optimise route planning and transport logistics.
And despite the AI hype and obvious applications for operations – such as demand forecasting and tracking – only 25% of firms across all three territories appear to be utilising these technologies in practice.
In the US – the world’s second largest trading nation with over $7 trillion in exports and imports of goods and services in 2022 – only 34% of respondents cited using AI capabilities within their supply chain operations.
In the UK meanwhile, which is among the biggest importers of goods in the world, just 19% of respondents claimed to have deployed AI in areas such as automating decision making, real-time tracking and predictive maintenance.
The survey also revealed that data and AI is very much in its infancy in Germany’s T&L sector– despite ranking second last year in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index. Only 9% of German respondents claimed they were using data analytics and AI for real-time tracking and predictive maintenance.
Barriers to adoption varied across the three territories. Cost was cited as the primary obstacle hindering widespread adoption in the UK, while 13% of UK firms cited a lack of internal expertise or resources as a barrier.
When it came to exploring new technologies, 76% of UK companies claimed they would rather approach external providers for solutions, instead of developing capabilities in-house.
In the US and Germany, most logistics professionals expressed concerns about potential disruptions to current processes and services.
Despite a global emphasis on sustainable practices, the study also revealed a significant gap in the prioritisation of sustainability.
More than 60% of UK logistics professionals, for instance, said their firms had no defined sustainability goals tailored to their T&L operations, with 33% admitting to having no plans to define such goals either.
Drivers safety was listed as the main priority in the US.
“It’s clear the industry currently lacks the contextual data, AI capabilities and tools needed to optimise fleet deployments, routing, and appropriate mode switching,” said Remco Timmer, vice president of product management at Here Technologies.
“As a result, we’re seeing increased demand for location data and services that enable logistics companies to overcome disruptions in real-time while reducing emissions and improving employee safety in the process.”
However, there are some logistics firms hoping to gain a competitive advantage by embracing technology early and planning for autonomous technologies, such as Swedish company Einride, which, last year, partnered with food giant Walkers on a new fleet of connected trucks.
