Trucking's uneasy relationship with new tech

Summary

Trucking's uneasy relationship with new techSam GruetTechnology ReporterGetty ImagesDigital trucking apps look to minimise trucks without cargoWhen Jared first started out in trucking more than two decades ago, he didn't anticipate he'd be on tour with a country music star, hauling guitars, amps, and other pieces of on-stage equipment."It just happened, right place, right time," the Canadian driver, who prefers not to use his surname, explains from behind the wheel of his towering lorry."I've done 5,000 miles in a month and a half, but there's a lot of breaks this year."But during time off between driving to shows in New Jersey, New York, Toronto and Nashville, Jared will be scanning multiple screens in his cabin – a laptop, tablet and two smart phones – to secure more work. All made possible by new technology.It's a world away from his early career, when he was transporting fruit and wine, he explains."Back in the day, you had to sit by a payphone if you're on the road and start calling people you've worked with and then you'd have a pager."Today, you just turn on your devices and scan through possible work. It's all digital and you get paid instantly. It's much better for business."The change has been driven by "Uberised" platforms, digitally matching truckers with companies which need to move freight. The phrase was coined due to the similarity to the ride hailing app.While Jared agrees it has made things easier, the truck driver says it has led to wages falling."During Covid, the average was $3 (£2.24) per mile, today on some loads from Toronto to Los Angeles that is $1.10 per mile."Not to mention, he says, the rising cost of fuel.In Canada, eight major platforms including Uber Freight, have emerged to digitise the market for freight.Like the taxi app, they are capitalising on a fragmented market dominated by smaller players, with 2023 data suggesting that more than eight in 10 trucking and freight firms in Canada employ fewer than five people.Christopher Monett...