What are the Benefits of Big Data in Transportation?

Big data is a treasure for transportation companies as it provides valuable information to increase overall efficiency.

FREMONT, CA: Time is precious for the transportation industry. Transportation companies need solutions to manage logistics and supply chain operations more effectively as freight transport demand increases. In the quest to find the perfect solution, companies are embracing the opportunities provided by big data. Using big data means gathering relevant electronic information from multiple sources and then analyzing it to identify patterns that can help the company predict future events. Before big data, transportation and logistics management companies used warehouses and business intelligence tools, which enabled them to optimize operations, build advanced routing solutions, and report and analyze customer behavior.  Today, big data can multiply these benefits.      

Due to the introduction of big data and smart technologies, the transportation sector has witnessed benefits such as increased operational efficiency and flexibility, reduced fuel consumption, improved customer experience, and improved safety. Data sensors provide real-time information about vehicle performance, accurate data of vehicle’s travel speed, time spent in transit, and idle time. Sensors track the health of the equipment and the entire engine, which allows error prediction and timely maintenance. To maintain safety levels, big data provides real-time information such as weather and road conditions and traffic jams. The transport companies can increase efficiency by adding delivery addresses and location information. 

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Sensors and satellite navigation helps in real-time tracking of trucks, airplanes, or ships, and the gathered data instantly lead to effective routing choices. The planning process gets simpler with data sensors monitoring the location, speed, break time, and driver capabilities. The system allows companies to quickly and easily calculate the best possible route for the new destination.  An optimized route leads to less fuel consumption and minimizes the carbon footprint.   

The ability to forecast delivery time, weather, and driver characteristics is a massive benefit of big data. Companies can efficiently manage inventory and can save time and money. Moreover, companies can predict capacity availability in real-time, creating lots of opportunities for transporters. Analysis of sentiment data, reduction in driver turnover, and driver assignment support human resources management. On the plus side, accurate data helps in predicting future events to avoid unpleasant surprises.    

Companies must optimize routing to provide the lowest possible cost of transportation to customers while managing margins. To maximize the path of vehicles, goods, and crew, companies generally use predictive analysis in fusion with data warehouse solutions. Using sensor data provides a lot of relevant information, which helps in many potential maintenance challenges and safety issues. According to some predictions, monitoring vehicle data and automating safety actions will be mandatory by the government in the near future.

Companies need to differentiate themselves from the competition to be successful, and it is possible by being a reliable partner in delivering goods and services. Transport companies must deliver products safely and predictably while offering transparency in the delivery process. Simultaneously, companies need intelligent forecasts as freight demand increases. Big data helps companies foresee the crucial aspects related to transport vehicles, crew, and facilities. Big data provides never seen transparency as sensors are actively used in shipping, vehicles, and throughout the supply chain to provide necessary data.  

The increase in tools and devices for collecting data is increasing the volume of data. Today, challenges such as storage costs and not a significant problem as they are reducing and the sensor and machine-to-machine data is easily collected. One of the significant challenges is to determine the relevance of gathered and stored data. Even if relevant data is collected, companies must use effective analytics to create value from it. Data comes in various formats while being structured and unstructured at the same time. Managing large amounts of data is a big challenge for many organizations.

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