What are the most innovative, impactful tech solutions in trucking?

Historically low freight volumes, rising costs, parts shortages, and supply chain disruptions—2024 was a rough year for trucking. With rates dropping and excess capacity flooding the market, it felt like everything was working against the industry. But instead of focusing on the struggles, let’s talk about something more exciting: innovation.

Despite the challenges, technology stepped in with some fresh solutions to help trucking tackle its biggest problems. A lot of these innovations are focused on making truckers life easier, healthy and contributing to the industry more sustainable. Here, I’m sharing Top 5 Trucking Technologies of 2024.

1. Highway

Tired of dealing with fraud and unreliable carriers? It’s time to step up your game with Highway. This tech solution is all about Carrier Identity? that makes it easier to know exactly who’s hauling your freight and protecting you from fraud.

With Highway, you can Identify, Connect, and Monitor your carriers quickly and securely:

Identify: Find the right carrier for your load using real-time data from trusted sources. Highway helps you avoid fraud by alerting you to any red flags before it’s too late.

Connect: Onboard carriers faster and easier with no more emails, calls, or faxes. Highway lets you securely connect with carriers, making the process smoother and quicker.

Monitor: Keep track of compliance automatically. Highway sends you real-time alerts about fraud risks and helps you manage insurance and compliance requirements with ease.

Backed by big names like McLeod Software, AscendTMS, and Turvo, Highway is built to grow with your business. Plus, with Lane Certainty?, you’ll always know you’re choosing the right carrier for your routes.

2. Cargado

Cross-border freight doesn’t have to be a headache. With Cargado, you can easily connect with trusted carriers for your Mexico freight, making the process smoother and faster. This invite-only load board brings you a network of reliable carriers who have been handling Mexico routes for years.

Cargado has built a strong network, with 300 carriers, 55,000 trucks, and 150,000 trailers ready to move freight. It’s a curated, invite-only network that ensures you’re working with top-notch partners.

Here’s why you’ll love Cargado:

• Fast Matches: Cargado gets you covered quickly with an average 38-minute match time. That means less waiting around and more time building relationships.
• Easy Booking: 83% of bookings happen without any manual work that lets you book freight 24/7 with just a few clicks.
• Cross-Border Focus: Designed to handle all the unique challenges of cross-border Mexico freight, Cargado helps with everything from border city requirements to CTPAT and crossing times. Plus, it's available in both English and Spanish.
• Find More Capacity: Cargado lets you discover new carriers and see capacity within your network that you didn’t know existed. It’s perfect for spot loads, lanes, and even long-term projects.

With the boom in trade between the U.S. and Mexico, Cargado is your go-to tool to make cross-border freight easier, faster, and more reliable.

3. WeatherOptics

When it comes to managing risks, you need reliable data that helps you make decisions. That’s where WeatherOptics offers actionable weather insights that take the guesswork out of weather-related disruptions. With hyperlocal, predictive data, WeatherOptics combines weather conditions with other factors like geography, demographics, and machine learning, so you can better gauge risks and plan ahead.

Here’s how WeatherOptics helps businesses like yours:

• Weather-adjusted ETA: Get accurate predictions of how weather will affect delivery times, ensuring you're always ready for what’s ahead.
• Road Danger Forecasts: Know which roads are hazardous and avoid them.
• Power Outage Risk: Predict the likelihood of power outages caused by weather, so you're always prepared.
• Flooding Risk: Stay ahead of the flood risk with advanced warnings.

RightRoute

RightRoute predicts how weather affects routes, using data to adjust routes up to 7 days in advance. It gives you road risk scores, delay predictions, and driver safety alerts to make smarter decisions.

Historical Data

With over 15 years of weather data, WeatherOptics improves forecasts, helping you plan better and make informed decisions.

Key Features:

• Hyperlocal forecasts: Get data specific to your area.
• Historical insights: Learn from past weather events.
• Real-time updates: Stay on top of changing conditions.

WeatherOptics lets you predict and prepare for weather disruptions, keeping your operations smooth and safe.

4. Digital Permit Book

Managing permits manually is a hassle and costs you time and money. With Digital Permit Book, you can keep your fleet compliant without the paperwork nightmare. No more manually tracking permits or emailing documents. Instead, you can send all updates to drivers with just one click, and they get everything they need directly on their app.

• Send all updates in one click
• Drivers get updated docs directly
• Centralized compliance
• And much more

The old way wastes valuable time and resources. For a fleet of 100 drivers, you could be losing $9,556 a year, driving 10,125 extra miles, and spending 281 hours on manual tasks. But with Digital Permit Book, compliance is automated, saving you time, money, and the risk of costly fines.

Trusted by major carriers like Midstream Transportation and Timco Logistics, our platform simplifies the entire process, ensuring your fleet stays compliant and your operations run smoothly.

5. TextLocate

Make your logistics easier with TextLocate. It helps you keep track of your loads, improve communication with drivers, and get real-time updates…. all automatically.

• 2-Way Chat – Real-time, clear communication with your drivers, every time.
• Location Requests – Get location updates in seconds to keep everything on track.
• Bulk Messaging – Reach multiple drivers fast.
• POD Requests – Get proof of delivery without the hassle.

With TextLocate, you’ll boost driver tracking by 54%, increase response rates by 76%, and engage 804,500+ drivers effortlessly. Whether you're handling 100 or 1,000 drivers, our platform makes everything smoother.

You don’t need long-term contracts. Choose a plan that fits you, with features like location requests, auto replies, mass texting, and more. TextLocate makes managing your operations simple and keeps your team on track.