Published: April 15, 2008 09:52 am      

Truckers hit the road with high-tech help

The difficulty in finding drivers who know how to read an atlas may be an indication of how much the trucking and logistics industry has changed in recent years.

Trucking has gone high-tech.

Instead of taking a coffee break to check an atlas for directions, drivers now program a global positioning system unit to feed them turn-by-turn directions throughout the trip.

“I still marvel at the guys who use the atlas to get where they’re going,” said Erika Ritchey-Smorto, vice president of operations at Tom Ritchey Transport in Northern Cambria.

GPS has become standard technology for nearly all logistics companies.

But technology will continue to find its way into the big rigs in many other ways.

One of the newer advances – that, given the price of fuel, is likely to storm through the industry – is alternative power units.

These units allow drivers to shut down their trucks overnight while the APU provides heat or air conditioning to the cab and circulates water in the engine.

The units cost $8,000 or more, but pay for themselves in efficiency.

They use only about one gallon of fuel in 10 hours, while an idling truck consumes about a gallon an hour.

“It’s good for the environment and the bottom line,” Ritchey-Smorto said.

Advanced Shipping Technologies, an Ebensburg freight-management company, represents a major change in the logistics industry by its very existence.

AST’s online service enables shipping managers to log on, type in their specific shipping needs and instantly receive a quote from several carriers who can meet their needs. Each search typically returns a list of 10 to 20 carriers from which the shipping manager can choose.

AST launched a new version of its Web site this year. It’s latest update included fully automating the online process for less-than-truckload orders.

The company is testing full automation for full truckload shipping now and plans to roll it out along with full automation for other services during the next 12 to 18 months.

“In our industry, it’s not even seeing into the future,” said Melissa Menie, owner of AST.

“If you don’t keep up with the latest technologies, you’re going to fall so far behind that you’ll never recover.”