卡车货运业拥抱车载信息服务

Telematics has shaken off early concerns that it would be used mainly by overzealous fleet managers or insurance companies. Instead, the technology, which allows for real-time, remote monitoring and control of vehicles and driver performance, has been embraced by the logistics industry.

在车载信息服务(Telematics)技术发展早期，人们担忧该技术主要被过于热心的车队管理人员或保险公司利用。相反，如今这种担忧烟消云散。能够用于实时远程监控车辆性能和驾驶员表现的该技术已被物流行业接受。

Its widespread use offers an alternative to a different sort of future in which highways operate like railways and users bid to access Road A during Time slot B for Price C.

它的广泛使用将为一种不同的未来提供替代选择，在这种未来的想定情形中，高速公路像铁路一样运行，用户需要以C价格投标在B时段使用A道路。

“Trucking companies say this is science fiction,” says Alan McKinnon, professor of logistics at the Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. “But traffic is growing faster than we are able to build road space. Telematics would be key to avoiding such an extreme response.”

汉堡物流与企业管理技术大学(KLU)的物流学教授艾伦•麦金农(Alan McKinnon)表示：“卡车货运公司说这是科幻小说。但交通增长速度超过了我们建造道路空间的能力。车载信息服务将是避免此类极端回应的关键。”

That outcome would be partly down to the technology’s more narrow uses, such as promoting fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly driving. More significant, however, would be the use of telematics to tackle under-utilisation of assets, which is one of the biggest challenges for the highly fragmented road freight sector.

这一结局将在一定程度上依赖于局限该技术的用途，例如促进节能、环保的行驶。然而，更重要的将是利用车载信息服务来解决资产利用不足的问题，这个问题是高度碎片化的公路货运行业面临的最大挑战之一。

Online exchanges that help match shipments with shipping space have existed for some time. Telematics, however, could significantly increase the usefulness of these tools, as individual trucks make real-time communications about their loads. As the internet of things advances, the goods themselves might take part in the conversation.

帮助匹配货物与货运空间的在线交换已经存在了一段时间。然而，车载信息服务可以显著提高这些工具的实用性，因为每辆卡车可以实时报告货物信息。随着物联网的发展，货物本身可能会参与对话。

“There’s a big prize there,” says Prof McKinnon. He puts the cost of under-utilisation in the European trucking industry alone in the hundreds of billions of euros per year.

麦金农表示：“这方面有巨大潜力。”他认为仅在欧洲卡车货运行业，资产利用率不足造成的成本就高达每年数千亿欧元。

The EU’s alliance for logistics innovation has targeted 2050 for its vision of an efficient, interconnected logistics system that will operate as a “physical internet”, in which goods are shipped according to space available on shared resources — in much the same way that an email message travels from one continent to another via servers.

欧盟物流创新联盟的目标是到2050年建立一个高效率和互联的物流系统，该系统将像一个“物理互联网”那样运行，货物按照共享资源的可用空间运输，就像电子邮件通过服务器从一个大陆发到另一个大陆那样。

Telematics would play an important role by feeding participating links in the chain with information about container space, for example, or arrival times, driver break schedules or the temperature of containers. The technology might also support new, more efficient ways of moving vehicles around, such as platooning, where strings of trucks follow one another at minimal distances, saving road space and fuel.

车载信息服务将发挥重要作用，为运输链上的参与环节提供各种信息，包括集装箱空间、到达时间、驾驶员休息时间表或集装箱温度。这项技术还可能支持新的、更高效率的车辆行驶方式，例如“队列行驶”(platooning)，即最大限度缩短车与车之间距离，从而节省道路空间和燃料。

On the one hand, such possibilities present big opportunities for telematics providers, the largest of which include: Canadian group AirIQ; MiX Telematics, based in South Africa; TomTom Telematics, whose headquarters are in the Netherlands; and US-based Verizon’s Fleetmatics. On the other, the industry is ripe for disruption, says Frederic Bruneteau at Ptolemus, a consultancy focused on mobility and communication.

专注于移动性和通信的咨询公司Ptolemus的菲德烈•布吕内托(Frederic Bruneteau)表示，一方面，此类可能性为车载信息服务提供商带来了巨大机遇，其中最大的企业包括：加拿大AirIQ集团、总部位于南非的MiX Telematics、总部位于荷兰的TomTom Telematics以及美国Verizon旗下的Fleetmatics。另一方面，颠覆该行业的时机已经成熟。

One strategy for adding value is to expand the range of services. Fleet managers increasingly want more integrated data and will opt for the telematics tool that feeds them meaningful information not just about location or vehicle performance, but also about fuel levels, security checks and upcoming tolls.

增添价值的一个战略是扩大服务范围。车队管理人员越来越希望获得更多的综合数据，并将选择能够为他们提供有意义信息的车载信息服务工具，不仅包括位置或车辆性能，还包括燃料水平、安全检查和前方的道路通行费。

Ultimately, however, says Mr Bruneteau: “The real wish is that fleet managers . . . are simply alerted when they have to solve a problem — that they’re only told when there are critical events to deal with.”

然而，最终而言，布吕内托表示：“真正的愿望是车队经理……只有在他们不得不解决问题时才会得到警示——他们只在有重大事件需要他们处理时才会被告知。”