Transport Industry: Reliably from A to B with Excellent Service

Logistics generates annual sales of around 300 billion euros and employs over three million people. According to the German Freight Forwarding and Logistics Association (Bundesverband Spedition und Logistik DSLV), this makes it the third-largest sector in Germany - and one of many industries currently facing major challenges. 

Trucks are by far one of the most important means of transport in Germany. Unlike trains and ships, they deliver goods from the factory floor directly to the customer's curb. 85 percent of goods are therefore transported by road in light and heavy commercial vehicles. 600,000 employees at freight forwarders and logistics service providers ensure that goods arrive safely.  

But the industry has a recruitment problem: There is already a shortage of between 80,000 and 100,000 drivers, and in ten years there could be 230,000, warns the German Road Haulage, Logistics and Waste Disposal Association (Bundesverband Güterkraftverkehr Logistik und Entsorgung BGL). One way out is offered by fully automated vehicles that are ready for operation around the clock. 

It is already possible to register them in Germany. But their use requires, on the one hand, smooth and networked processes. On the other, the federal states must first define and approve the areas in which fully automated vehicles are allowed to operate. 

In addition to the shortage of drivers, rising fuel costs and strict sustainability targets are making life difficult for transport fleet operators. For example, the introduction of a truck toll with a distance-based CO2 price is planned for the end of 2023, which is likely to drive up the costs of many operators - because the road to green logistics is still long.  

According to a study by Bain & Company, 60 percent of fleet managers intend to buy trucks with electric, hydrogen or hybrid drive systems in the next two years. However, the majority doubts that their freight will arrive at its destination on time if only an e-drive is involved. 

When deciding on alternative drive systems, range is the decisive factor for truck buyers. However, this does not mean that the high purchase costs for "clean" trucks do not play a role. That's why more and more manufacturers are offering pay-per-use concepts - because for 42 percent of those surveyed, this makes it easier to decide in favor of an environmentally friendly truck.  

Regardless of whether self-driving trucks are coming soon or electrification is progressing faster than expected, manufacturers of trucks and bodies must react now and rethink their systems and processes. Above all, they need to drive their service transformation. 

To that end, the Bain & Company survey recommends the following: 

• Manufacturers should focus more on further developing their service offerings. 
• Customers expect a seamless process from initial contact to scheduling service appointments across all channels.  
• With first-class service, manufacturers have the chance to get the most out of their sales force and at the same time relieve their service staff.  
• It is also important to professionalize aftersales management - this enables manufacturers to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction and create incentives for follow-up purchases.  
• Service optimization pays off - because of the fleet managers surveyed, 59 percent would sign a contract with a fixed monthly price that covers all services from maintenance to the replacement of wear parts. 

Logistics companies are only profitable if their trucks are on the road. Maintenance and repairs are therefore essential to keep the fleet running. However, the fact that, according to the TÜV Association's Commercial Vehicle Report 2023, one in five commercial vehicles has significant or dangerous defects speaks for a poor maintenance mentality.  

It is true that operators of vehicles over 7.5 tons are quite willing to invest their money in maintenance rather than in towing charges, breakdown services or contractual penalties for late delivery. In contrast, however, the 3.5- to 7.5-ton trucks - presumably for reasons of time and cost - are "battered" instead of serviced or repaired with cheap spare parts from the Internet. 

As a manufacturer of commercial vehicles, by optimizing and simplifying your service, you can provide your customers with faster, simpler, and more cost-effective maintenance and repairs, thus making an important contribution to greater safety and efficiency in freight transport. In this way, you reduce maintenance hurdles for your customers and increase your sales.  

However, to do this, you need to put some important to-dos on your agenda, including 

• building up competence in the field of alternative drives and automated driving 
• developing data-based services to better plan maintenance, among other things 
• creating transparency for increasingly complex vehicle fleets and spare parts 
• enabling 24/7 access to information and digital self-service  
• stronger networking of fleets, workshops and aftersales service 

Networked and structured data is the key that commercial vehicle manufacturers use to make their aftersales service fit for the future in order to stabilize their sales. However, since it is not only logistics companies that are suffering from the shortage of skilled workers, but also manufacturers, modern software platforms are needed that make data management effortless.  

Instead of dealing with IT issues, you can focus on developing new profitable business areas. The data that flows centrally into your platform is the basis for this: It enables aftersales optimization and the development of new services such as digital B2B customer portals. 

One software that specifically supports commercial vehicle manufacturers in building such a platform is Quanos InfoTwin. The cloud-based platform creates a digital twin for the aftersales and service department of truck manufacturers. The modular solution gradually networks all relevant information from technical documentation, spare parts management and other sources. 

This networking of service information ensures a considerable gain in efficiency during repairs, for example. A service portal that accesses data from Quanos InfoTwin provides suitable, easily explained repair and maintenance instructions for each spare part.  

Service Activities - a capability of InfoTwin - also enables manufacturers to create interactive service instructions from spare parts information and technical documentation to simplify the repair process, even for inexperienced service technicians.