GREEN BAY (NBC 26)T — It's a time of change at Schneider National, where a trucking company has fully embraced technology.
During a recent tour, we saw a truck with some visible changes. There were no mirrors. They've been replaced by cameras.
"The field of view is so much enhanced, the clarity is so much enhanced," training and development administrator Bob Seidl said.
We also saw tablets inside the trucks to assist drivers. With those changes already in place, what changes are coming next? In the next ten years, could trucks even drive themselves?
"I don't have a crystal ball on that one," Schneider National vice president of solution delivery Mike Degeneffe said. "I would say that that process is making trucks safer and easier to operate and that's what we care about."
If drivers are still in the trucks ten years from now, the industry will need to face a growing driver shortage. National statistics show tens of thousands of trucking jobs are currently unfilled. The industry will need 900,00 new drivers by 2027.
"We're looking for ways to use technology as much as we can to make life easier for new drivers or experienced drivers, but also to entice drivers to sign on with Schneider," Degeneffe said.
Customers have technology too. More and more, the industry is becoming real time. Company executives say it's an opportunity and a challenge.
"It changes so fast, so what we're thinking about today and two, three years out continues to evolve at a pace like we've never seen," vice president of strategy, planning, and architecture Brian Stuelpner said. "The challenge for us is to make sure we're at the forefront, we're understanding the new and different technology in use cases, so we can invest in them at the right time."
It's a move into a tech-forward industry, with an eye on 'Wisconsin 2030.'
