The trucking industry is full of acronyms that we all toss around with regularity. Lately, I have been hearing two more: ACE and CASE. ACE, I’m told, stands for Autonomy, Connectivity, Electrification. CASE is short for Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric.
I think developing an acronym for these concepts makes people think they are always related. The reality is that they are independent of each other; however, they are complementary to one another as well. Make sense?
Developments in each of these areas are happening at lightning speed and it can be difficult to keep up. It seems like things are changing on an almost daily basis. Some days it seems like something new happens almost hourly.
I believe that all of these developments will be good for trucking in the long run because all have the potential to make the hauling of goods safer and more efficient. Properly used these things can help us improve overall freight efficiency so we can haul more goods while using less fuel and in some cases even fewer trucks.
As many of you know, NACFE has branched out from its traditional work of providing unbiased information on existing technologies and practices that help fleets save fuel. A few years back we realized that emerging technologies can be just as confusing. As a result, we began publishing Guidance Reports that attempt to help clear up separate the reality from the hype when it comes to these emerging future technologies.
Our plan is to spotlight several of these technologies during the Technology Days we have added to Run on Less Regional. At this point we are specifically targeting electric vehicles and although not part of ACE or CASE we will also devote a day to educate people about developments in hydrogen power as well. We might also shine the spotlight on connectivity and how fleets can use the data they get from their connected devices to be more fuel-efficient.
We are in the development stage with the technology days and are interested in hearing from you about what you would like to see us cover on things such as electric trucks, hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles, connectivity, etc. How can we ensure that we bring real value to you and are not just adding to the noise that is already out there on these subjects?
Shoot me an email ([email protected]) to give me your ideas for how we can make these technology days a success.
