Do Truckers Use AI?

I had a chat with a safety manager yesterday, and he said truck drivers don’t use AI (artificial intelligence). At first, I agreed with him. After all, truck drivers drive trucks, right?

But then, as I started thinking about it, do truck drivers use AI? And guess what? I’ve changed my mind! We might not want to call it artificial intelligence or AI, but I believe truck drivers use it every day.

Here are a few examples: have you ever seen a truck driver dictating a text message? That’s artificial intelligence. Or what about the ELD (electronic logging device)? When a driver gets a warning that they’re running out of hours, that’s AI too. And don’t get me started on those drivers’ scorecards! When they tell a driver they took a corner too fast or didn’t stop at a red light, that’s AI in action.

And let’s not forget about the biggest use of AI in our industry: our routing devices. The navigation device knows where we are, and we just tell it where we want to go. It gives us a truck-specific route, and we trust it. (Of course, we must use the right mapping system, or a navigation device made for trucks).

So far, I have mentioned truck drivers using voice dictation, being coached by the ELD device and using their routing software. What other examples of AI are in a truck driver’s life?

I went to Google and asked this question. And guess what? Google had similar examples and even some new ones. Google listed advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), which is about changing driver behaviour. Google also mentioned route optimization and traffic prediction, which is basically navigation.

So, there you have it! Truck drivers use AI every day, and it’s not just for driving. It’s for making our jobs easier and safer.

Google also mentioned smart diagnosis and maintenance alerts for trucks. There’s not much interaction with the driver, but the equipment is using artificial intelligence.

Google also mentioned fuel efficiency, which is part of the drivers’ scorecard. They also mentioned driver safety monitoring, which is a fancy way of saying you ran a red light or took a corner too fast.

Google informed me that some dispatch functions are AI-related. These include forecasting and inventory management, as well as load management and load planning.

So, artificial intelligence is already a big part of trucking and transportation. It’s going to be interesting to see how it evolves in the next few months and years. We’re all going to be affected by AI transformation, and while I don’t know how it will affect trucking specifically, I do know that it will have a huge impact.

Be safe.

Chris Harris
CEO & Top Dawg
Safety Dawg Inc.
905-973-7056
chris@safetydawg.com
@safety_dawg (twitter)