Transport Industry: Four Predictions for 2025

Christopher Keating, Senior Vice President at Transporeon, a Trimble company, offers a glimpse into the year 2025. The transport industry faced a challenging journey in 2024. Hopes for a quick recovery from the turbulence of recent years were met with persistent economic headwinds, geopolitical uncertainties, and ongoing challenges that have kept the industry in cautious anticipation.

Von: Christopher Keating

(Ulm) The path to 2025 promises exciting opportunities and demanding challenges for those navigating global supply chains. While optimism for a gradual return to normalcy persists, it is crucial to understand the shaping forces of the industry to stay one step ahead of developments.

Pressure on Sustainability Will Remain

Due to the interplay of several factors – stricter environmental regulations, rising fuel costs, and increasing consumer awareness – sustainability is no longer a trend but a significant pressure weighing on the transport industry. In 2024, electric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles were not as successful as they should have been. And although investments will continue to rise, challenges and skepticism will still exist in 2025.

Instead, companies are focusing on sustainability by improving their operational efficiency. This means leveraging technology, data, and artificial intelligence to reduce empty miles and time spent, thereby making the entire operation – and thus the supply chain – more sustainable. Collaborating with suppliers and carriers committed to sustainability will also become increasingly important from a branding perspective. Building “green” partnerships in the supply chain will be crucial for reducing environmental impact, enhancing brand image, and attracting environmentally conscious customers.

The AI Revolution: From Automation to Autonomous Decision-Making

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept but is rapidly becoming a driving force for efficiency and innovation in transport technology. While in 2024 companies experimented with simple AI-driven automation, 2025 will see the leap to more sophisticated applications.

AI is expected to move beyond simple tasks like route optimization into the realm of autonomous decision-making. Advanced algorithms will analyze vast amounts of data to optimize entire transport networks, taking into account real-time conditions, driver availability, and cost fluctuations. This will also impact price negotiations. Instead of negotiating prices for each shipment individually with all partners, companies can use AI-driven tools to conduct all negotiations simultaneously.

Predictive maintenance will increasingly take hold, with AI and machine learning algorithms analyzing data from IoT sensors to foresee equipment failures, minimize downtime, and optimize maintenance schedules. Ultimately, AI, as in other industries, will assist employees by automating time-consuming and error-prone manual tasks. These repetitive tasks can be streamlined, resulting in significant time and labor savings, allowing employees more time for strategic tasks.

Driver Shortage Continues: Is AI the Solution?

The driver shortage will persist into 2025. AI will help, but solving this complex issue requires a multifaceted approach that combines recruitment, technology, and operational efficiency. Attracting new talent to the industry will require concerted efforts to improve working conditions, competitive salaries, and investments in driver training programs.

At the same time, companies will increasingly rely on automation technologies such as autonomous trucks and warehouse robots to alleviate pressure on their employees. Optimizing driving times will also be a key agenda item. Companies will use AI-driven technologies to minimize delays, reduce dwell times at loading docks, and improve driver productivity and satisfaction.

Visibility: From Data to Actionable Insights

Real-time visibility has become a standard feature in transport management, but in 2025, the focus will shift from merely identifying where transports are located to deriving valuable insights from the data. This means leveraging predictive analytics to anticipate disruptions, optimize routes, and proactively address delays.

Integrated platforms will play a crucial role in this development by connecting TMS, warehouse management systems, and other data sources, thereby creating a seamless flow of information and optimizing decision-making across the supply chain. Data-driven collaboration will also gain importance as companies share information with partners and customers to work more efficiently and build closer, more transparent collaborations.

On the Road to 2025 and Beyond

While 2025 promises a modernized transport industry with AI-driven capabilities, there is a significant caveat to all the aforementioned benefits of technology: the transport sector lags behind other industries in terms of digitalization. This will undoubtedly hinder the development of technology, data, and AI. Therefore, companies should prioritize the digitalization of their processes if they want to reap the benefits.

The journey promises to be both challenging and rewarding, and those willing to collaborate and embrace this technological evolution will be the ones to lead in the changing transport industry.

Christopher Keating, Senior Vice President Trimble Transportation Europe, took over the leadership of Transporeon, a Trimble company, in October 2023. Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Trimble, leading the Corporate Strategy Team and the entire Connect & Scale transformation of the company. Chris joined Trimble in 2012 through the acquisition of Google SketchUp.

Before his role as Corporate Vice President, Chris led Trimble’s profitable, growth-oriented technology companies within the construction sector, including the SketchUp business.

Chris has lived and worked in Europe for several years. He holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University and an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University. He has a passion for technology, travel, and reading.