Picture this: Your driver, Stephan, is out on the road, stuck in traffic because he didn’t get the memo about that major construction on I-90. Meanwhile, Sally has 3 stops to make in nearby towns and accidentally took a detour through a scenic route that added an extra 30 miles to her trip. In the meantime, George at the office is planning an Intermodal load, travelling by truck, train, another truck, and final mile delivery. Multiply this by your entire fleet, and you’re looking at a lot of wasted time, fuel, and, let’s be honest, money. I call this beautiful complexity.

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Enter our first and probably most basic AI use case for Supply Chain and Logistics – Intelligent Fleet Routing.

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How Does It Work?

At its core, Intelligent Routing uses advanced algorithms and real-time data to determine the most efficient routes for your trucks. We're talking traffic patterns, road conditions, weather forecasts, train schedules, and current and historical data on appointment and delivery times. Think of it as the ultimate co-pilot who’s always one step ahead. If routing applications are connected to your TMS or fleet management system, the benefit is even stronger - shipper appointments, vehicle loading, unloading, load types, and stops can be critical for route optimization.

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Let’s see some examples:

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Intermodal:

We are back to George in the office. His shipment is arriving from Vietnam at the Port of Los Angeles and it needs to be transported to the middle of the country, Kansas City.  Here is the ideal scenario:

George’s TMS receives real-time updates on the ship arriving into LA. AI technology (we’ll talk about Network Optimization in a later post) bounces arrival and port operations SLAs against train schedules, FTL, and LTS availability of the trip.

The routing system immediately calculates the optimal route to the rail yard, considering current traffic, weather, and road conditions.

The system syncs with train schedules, ensuring the truck arrives just in time for the goods to be transferred to the train – no waiting around (saving on these accessorial charges).

As the train approaches Kansas City, the system alerts the trucking company to be ready. As conditions change, drivers frequently receive updates that assist them in possible rerouting. Updates on reroutes and latest truck positioning are sent to network optimization software and further changes are made.

The truck route is dynamically adjusted based on real-time traffic data, ensuring a smooth delivery of the journey before transitioning it to a distribution center.

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Fleet:

Remember Stephen who is stuck in traffic on I-90?  Using Intelligent Truck Routing, Stephen’s route is dynamically adjusted to avoid that construction, leading him through the quickest path with the least resistance in sufficient amount of time to make the changes. A bit like Google Maps but on steroids because this one is connected to your TMS and understands variety of additional conditions that may be important to the load. Our goal is to get Stephen to his delivery on time, saving fuel, and best of all, he's not grumpy from sitting in traffic all day. Multiply this efficiency across your fleet, and you're looking at substantial savings on fuel and operational costs.

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LTL:

An intelligent routing system helps Sally as well. Alerts prompt her prior to a potential detour mistake to make sure she doesn’t take the scenic route. And if she still happens to do so, an updated route is presented, potential increase in fuel is calculated and reported, and alerts are immediately dispatched to alert on potential delay in delivery or next load pickup.

Sounds too idealistic? This type of operations is possible with the technology that we have in the market. However, to achive ethe ideal state, a good number of integrations need to come in play. As most TMS platforms do not specialize in this type of intelligent routing, integrations are critical to make this possible.

Intelligent Routing isn't just about getting from point A to point B. It's about optimizing every mile, reducing operational costs, and improving customer satisfaction. In an industry where margins are thin, every saved minute and gallon of fuel counts. So, next time you see Stephen cruising down the highway, know that he's not just driving – he's (hopefully) driving using the most advanced technology for routing and optimization delivering value to us all.

(This is topic 1 in the series Applied AI in Supply Chain and Logistics. For full list, please visit the original post.)

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