Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/949884
64 commercial carrier journal | march 2018 TECHNOLOGY: E-COMMERCE routing and allow customers to choose a delivery time that works best for them. Hy-Vee uses an application program interface from Telogis. e grocer's order management system can communicate order details automatically to Telogis' RouteCloud optimization soware, which instantly computes routes and sends the plan back to Hy-Vee's computer systems. During the checkout process, Hy-Vee customers soon will be able to reserve a time slot for delivery. Customers will see which times are available and can earn discounts for choosing slots that result in lower delivery costs based on how the routes are shaping up. "is will add more value on the customer side by picking a time slot," Hasson says. "Ultimately, it will give the routing engine a better problem to solve. Customers will feel good about getting a cheaper price." Hy-Vee also is using an API from Tel- ogis called LiveETA. When a driver starts a delivery route, customers on the route will receive an ETA. As things change, customers will receive updates. "is will evolve to be an Uber-like experience where you can track the driver right up to your house," Hasson says. Routing soware systems have to use certain assumptions to plan the sequence of stops, but nothing ever follows the plan. Traffic delays and other unpre- dictable circumstances cause delivery times to change, making it necessary to recalculate real-time adjustments to meet customer expectations. Foxtrot Systems' cloud-based route execution application dynamically resequences and reoptimizes the stops on a route as conditions change. Foxtrot creates a profile of each customer stop on a route, over time, to predict the best day of the week and time of day to schedule a delivery. e soware also can create accurate and dynamic ETAs by continuously pre- dicting how long it takes to service each customer on a route and making changes to the sequence of deliveries as the route progresses, says Luke Wachtel, president. Autonomous deliveries Now that routes can be optimized on the fly, the next step in the progress of e-com- merce is using driverless trucks to make deliveries. As little as five years from now, autonomous trucks might be delivering mail and packages to residences. A September 2016 research piece published by consulting firm McKinsey & Company predicted that within the next decade, 80 percent of parcel deliveries will be made by autonomous vehicles. "We want to be ready now," says Dan Laury, chief executive of udelv. e Burlingame, Calif.-based company recently completed a public road test de- livery using its specially designed electric vehicle. e autonomous truck was dis- patched on a 2.5-mile loop complete with traffic lights, lane changes and le turns. e truck made two delivery stops from Draeger's Market in San Mateo. In compliance with California regulations, udelv's vehicle remained in test mode and was supervised by a safety driver. e truck is built with individual compartments, each designed to secure a customer's order. Each compartment opens when the udelv truck reaches a delivery location and communicates with a mobile app on the customer's phone. e company plans to offer this solution to merchants and fleets through a subscription model that will include a nominal delivery fee. e prices will have to be at a lower level than what people currently pay for e-commerce deliveries, or "autonomous trucks will remain a science project," Laury says. Large retailers and shipping companies will be able to use their own branded udelv trucks for dedicated routes. Small stores likely will share a vehicle to make the subscription cost more effective for all parties involved, Laury says. To complement udelv's autonomous driving technology and ensure reliability of the service, the company also creat- ed an ultra-low-latency teleoperations system to monitor and control its vehicles remotely and allow for overrides and human-assisted guidance in unique situations. e company is taking pre-orders on its website. "e technology will be ready pretty soon, within the next 12 months in some places," Laury says. e timetable of legislation to allow autonomous trucks on the roads is a different story. "We have no control on that, but it looks like there is a willingness in the United States to allow it at many different levels," he says. As the Amazon effect continues to loom larger in both the public and private sectors, technology is helping delivery companies adapt to new challenges and opportunities in the fast-growing e-com- merce market. Udelv's electric autonomous delivery truck is built with individual com- partments, each designed to secure a customer's order. Hy-Vee's order management system can communicate the Des Moines, Iowa-based grocer's customer order details automatically to Telogis' Route- Cloud optimization software.