Even autonomous trucks are not the end of dispatchers

Will fully autonomous trucks soon be carrying out transport operations that have been automatically planned by route optimisation software? Yes and no, according to the participants in a panel discussion organised by the trade publication Telematikmarkt.de entitled ‘Fully Automated Transport – Where Technology Takes Over and Humans Remain Irreplaceable’, because in their view, humans will remain irreplaceable in many areas.

The first important finding was that dispatchers will definitely not be replaced. ‘The job description is changing,’ said Wolfgang Schmid, Head of Central Region at Webfleet, a provider of fleet management and vehicle tracking software. His thesis is that new mobility concepts will create different planning tasks. This was supported by Stephan Grimm, Head of Revenue at Scalar, a fleet orchestration platform belonging to the ZF Group. ‘Business strategies and planning priorities are changing incredibly quickly in today's highly dynamic logistics environment,’ he emphasised. As a result, solutions can become obsolete within six months.

He cited CO2 emissions-based route planning as an example of new approaches being taken by individual market players. ‘Such a task can no longer be accomplished manually, even by the most experienced dispatchers,’ Grimm emphasised. Even data collection and analysis cannot be completed in the time available, let alone the planning based on this data. ‘We are constantly facing new challenges that are sometimes difficult to overcome, even with automation solutions,’ he explained.

Autonomous driving is worthwhile

Autonomous driving will soon become interesting from a business perspective, according to moderator Peter Klischewsky, editor-in-chief and publisher of Telematik-Markt.de: "According to a study, they reduce energy costs by 10 percent and personnel costs by as much as 20 percent. This year, the supplier ZF received permission to test a fully autonomous Level 4 system in regional and urban transport.

For Stephan Anschütz, founder and CEO of route optimiser Opheo, this raises the question of how such vehicles will change logistics. ‘People will certainly continue to be involved in transport, at the start and end of journeys, but probably no longer on the long stretches in between,’ he said. However, this would make it easier to plan vehicle deployment because personnel restrictions such as driving and rest times would no longer apply.

Klischewsky added that the pressure to approve the technology will increase simply because of the worsening driver shortage; according to recent studies, there is already a shortage of at least 70,000 drivers, and the number of unfilled positions is rising by 20,000 each year. Anschütz therefore does not see the challenge for fully automated transport planning in a lack of data. ‘The quality of article master data is still not high enough for automatic load planning,’ he observed.

Key discipline: data maintenance

However, logistics service providers, industry and trade have recognised the challenge and are working on data maintenance – a task that, in his view, must become a continuous process. ‘New articles must also be added constantly,’ Anschütz continued. For this reason, automatically generated freight plans will remain subject to review for the foreseeable future. For Webfleet manager Schmid, it is therefore clear that people will retain responsibility. ‘They use tools and have to monitor the implementation of orders,’ he emphasised.

All technologies depend on acceptance by dispatchers and drivers, emphasised Scalar manager Grimm. ‘System providers must create transparency and clarity about what their applications do,’ he demands, adding: ‘Their job is to pick up users and explain how the technology works.’ To do this, it is important to highlight the added value for the individual players.

AI ensures data-safe video telematics

Schmid emphasised that this applies above all to video telematics. Only with the support of artificial intelligence can it carry out recordings in compliance with data protection regulations. ‘People want to benefit from the positive aspects of transparency,’ he said, drawing a comparison with shopping benefits offered by bonus apps for consumers. Grimm added the decisive argument for drivers in favour of video telematics: the technology protects them by documenting their behaviour in critical situations. His company has also integrated a GDPR compliance module into the application that allows users to decide who has access to the data.

Opheo founder Anschütz offered the most optimistic outlook on trust in the technology: ‘Reservations about the technology will gradually disappear,’ he predicted. However, he did mention one important prerequisite: ‘Management must talk to employees and explain the benefits for their own company.’ (loe)