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Imagine being put in charge of finding ways to boost your company’s bottom line. You automatically think of two ways: a huge influx of profitable new business or a significant reduction in operating costs. 

However, you know that option number one isn’t likely. So, you begin rummaging through the books looking for any and every way to save a penny. Knowing that your top three costs are equipment, driver wages and fuel, which is easiest to control?

With a little more than 18 months left in the decade, what are the main concerns for the trucking industry before we reach 2020? Three association leaders representing the Iowa Motor Truck Association, Toronto Transportation Club and the Women In Trucking Association informally shared their observations on the hot topics being discussed among their membership and what’s keeping them up at night.

Just how much freight do 3PLs or brokers move for tens of thousands of shippers every day? Here’s an interesting fact: The $166 billion third-party logistics industry is 1.5 times the size of the beer market and four times larger than the market for candy.

Leveraging data to boost process efficiencies of supply-chain logistics or to shorten delivery times—or both—is becoming more difficult with every terabyte of data shippers and receivers store. 

“What the internet did for communications, blockchain will do for trusted transactions.” - Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM

Maybe your company employs a team of brokers to secure transportation after filling out order forms. 

Leading brokerages are using technology to achieve the ideal balance between personalized service and more aggressive growth.

Nothing in business is certain, especially in one as highly competitive as transportation and logistics. To stay viable, companies must continuously adapt and keep technology current to meet new challenges and opportunities head on.

In 2018 and beyond there will be plenty of both. Here are a few emerging technologies and trends that will likely become part of your playbook during the next year or two. 

Transportation brokerage is all about relationships—and that means it’s also about communications. To match loads with the right capacity and make sure all the details of a shipment go well, you must find out as much as you can about the needs of both your shippers and your carriers.

How can you make your company stand out from the crowd? This is a question that many business leaders have asked themselves for years.