The food transportation industry is growing at a fast pace and the growth is being fueled by many innovations and advancements in this field. Moreover, there are several trends that are worth taking note of since they have the ability to influence the growth of the food transportation industry and improve it further. From better automation to improved food safety, cold chain management, use of analytics and proper waste management, there are many trends to take note of. Let us look at a few of the popular trends in the food transportation industry in 2019.
Greater Level of Automation
An increase in labor expenditure, advancements in technology, and a rise in demand are forcing many of the transportation companies to include automation solutions to have a leading edge over their competitors. These automation systems are being used for automating workflows, making necessary adjustments as per order status, manage inventory, and improve their throughput capabilities.
Food shipping companies are including options such as autonomous vehicles, self driving trucks, driverless trucks, and similar other options to improve their productivity, lower the possibility of human errors, improve highway safety, and meet other challenges such as a shortage of drivers. Due to an increase in minimum wage requirements, companies are looking into cutting jobs and moving on to automation options that will help them reduce their expenditure.
Focus on Food Safety
FTL trucking companies are paying more attention to food safety due to changes in regulations. Rules are more stringent now with respect to the verification of foreign suppliers, safety of the products, and accreditation of third parties.
Thus, companies are paying more attention to aspects like procedures for mitigating spoilage, monitoring as well as control of temperatures, preventing cross contamination, improving sanitation during loading, handling, unloading, and packaging. Recent trends show that companies are also paying more attention to training about food safety for employees, development of food safety plans, implementation of monitoring systems to how effective the safety programs are, and procedures for supplier verification.
Companies offering freight forwarding services are also looking into an end-to-end examination of the supply chain to make sure products do not become deteriorated during transit from one point to another. Companies are aware that proper food security is necessary in supply chain since any weakness in the system can compromise safety and result in damage to the reputation for the company. In addition, food security also becomes important since these food items are consumed by people and if the products are not hygienic than it can result in health risks.
Maintaining the safety and security of food being transported also becomes important since companies need to follow the regulations that have been defined in this respect since non-compliance can result in severe penalties. Moreover, if food becomes contaminated during transit then it can result in wastage as well as recalls. To prevent these problems, companies are now using advanced tracking systems so that food being transported can be tracked throughout the supply chain.
Growth in Intermodal Industry
Volumes of transportation are increasing in the intermodal since it helps in lowering congestion on roads, reduced expenditure, and helps in the mitigation of carbon footprints. The reduction in cycle time and better efficiency is also helping just in time firms meet their requirements.
Proper Management of Cold Chain
The new trend noticed in 2019 with respect to food transportation involves proper cold chain management. Nowadays, sophisticated devices are being used for tracking as well as monitoring cold chains through the use of technological advancements such as Internet of Things (IoT).
If we look at the statistics, cold chain management is growing at a rapid rate due to the growth of perishable goods trade, rising demand for perishable food items, new advancements in refrigerated transportation systems, and the ever growing need to deliver goods in time to consumers.
Use of Predictive Analytics
Such analytics help companies take real time decisions and also facilitate forward planning to improve performance as well as strategies. Features of predictive analysis help FTL trucking companies work proactively and anticipate the future. A few of the practical uses of predictive analysis include better accuracy of forecasts that are made, improved product traceability and tracking, optimization of transportation performance, and proper analysis of product returns.
In addition, data collected from multiple supply chain operations are collected and analyzed using predictive analytics. Moreover, by storing all the data in a central database it becomes possible to ensure that everyone has access to the same data. Such analytics helps in analyzing whether transportation cost is higher than normal in a specific route, how much time before a particular shipments face the danger of being spoiled, etc. As we can see, such predictive and real time analytics have become an important and integral part of the food transportation system.
Proper Food Waste Management
Food transportation companies are focusing on reducing the wastage of food during transit since food worth billions of dollars gets wasted or lost every year. Such wastage of food during transit primarily occurs because of poor networks, unavailability of proper methods of preservation, incorrect humidity and temperature conditions, routes that have not been planned properly, and delays happening during transit.
Moreover, due to increased globalization, the food transportation industry continues to expand in its volume as well as complexity, making it necessary for food transportation companies to pay special attention to reduce the wastage of food during transit.
From the above details it is quite clear that the food transportation industry is going through major changes that are taking it further on the growth path. Give us a call if you would like more insights into how the industry is improving and changes that may influence the food transportation industry in the near future. Our team of industry experts will be more than happy to share all the details with you and help you understand the changes that can help you improve your efficiency.
