Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL) announced recently the launch of DHL ‘SmarTrucking’, to provide an innovative trucking solution across an extensive linehaul express road network in India. The company aims to build a 10,000-strong, IoT-enabled, temperature-controlled, fully-owned fleet that will create employment opportunities for over 20,000 drivers, according to Juergen Gerdes, Board Member for Corporate Incubations, Deutsche Post DHL Group.

Describing India as a growing economy and incredibly important market for DPDHL, Gerdes said that presently, road freight comprises the majority of the country’s total freight movement and is the largest transportation segment in India. “With greater efficiency from DHL ‘SmarTrucking,’ we expect to transport 100,000 tonnes of cargo and cover a distance of approximately 4 million kilometers across India daily.”

DHL SmarTrucking is the company’s first official move to accelerate the development of technology-enabled logistics solutions around the world, under its newly formed board department — Corporate Incubations — which was launched in April this year. The company has also appointed Neeraj Bansal as CEO of DHL ‘SmarTrucking’ with responsibility responsible for leading the company’s growth in India.

Following a successful three-month pilot that covered over 2,770,000 kilometers, DHL SmarTrucking leverages Internet of Things (IoT) technology and data-driven insights for route optimization – thus reducing transit times by up to 50 percent, compared to the traditional trucking industry – and provides over 95 percent reliability with ease of use, end-to-end consignment visibility, temperature-controlled capabilities and real-time tracking. Utilizing an innovative and agile model, drivers are rotated at predetermined stops located across the country, with the original driver returning to the point of origin with another truckload.

“This transportation model not only helps optimize efficiency but also reduces fatigue among drivers who spend less time on the road, enabling them to go home to their families every two to three days,” says Malcolm Monteiro, CEO, DHL eCommerce India. “Additionally, with the demand for temperature controlled transportation in India estimated to grow at 15% per annum from 2016 to 2020, DHL SmarTrucking allows our customers in India to scale up and streamline their business operations to meet consumers’ needs.”

“Road transportation is currently being 85% unorganized with 50-75% reliability and 30kms average speed due to ‘minimal technology adoption’, lack of skilled drivers (-22% shortage in commercial drivers), shortcomings in temperature compliance for cold chain logistics,” he said while noting that this needs ‘lowering costs in different verticals’ including fast road transport to reduce inventory carrying costs and improved service levels.

Replying to questions, Monteiro said that in supply optimizing cost, speed and reliability remained a major factor in which technology is a strong enabler. “With consumers getting more and more demanding and Tier II and Tier III areas growing faster than metros, we will invest as much as needed in transforming this whole logistics space,” he added.

With temperature-control capabilities that are fully compliant with international standards, solutions such as DHL SmarTrucking and DHL SmarTrucking Coldchain for temperature-controlled products, provide road freight solutions for all sectors including the automotive, dairy, e-commerce, packaged foods, pharmaceuticals and Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) industries.

Pointing out that India is +under-invested+ in logistics operations, Neeraj Bansal, CEO, DHL SmarTrucking, said “DHL SmarTrucking’s emphasis on TechLog will change the game for customers in India. By leveraging the potential of the infrastructural transformations in India’s logistics ecosystem and our innovations through DHL SmarTrucking, we can help Indian businesses reach customers and markets in a faster and more secure way.”