AI will have huge impact on freight but also overhyped, says Transflo exec

In the logistics industry, partnerships play a pivotal role in advancing technology solutions and maximizing efficiency. By pooling expertise and resources, logistics companies can overcome barriers like the high costs of technology adoption and the demand for greater data accuracy and real-time updates, which are vital for complex logistics operations.

In addition, collaboration between technology providers accelerates solutions for predictive analytics, route optimization and fleet management, which are essential in today’s market.

Don Everhart’s Tuesday appointment at Transflo highlights the importance of a strategic approach to partnerships in logistics technology. As head of partnerships and strategy, Everhart will lead the development of collaborations in Transflo’s innovation efforts.

Transflo’s Don Everhart. (Photo: Transflo)

Everhart brings over two decades of experience leading innovation at both legacy and emerging logistics providers. He led technical teams at Knight-Swift Transportation as vice president of technology and analytics before steering technical projects at FreightVana as CTO. Everhart also shares his expertise as a technology committee member of the Transportation Intermediaries Association.

In an interview with FreightWaves, Everhart offers perspectives on emerging FreightTech trends and industry buzzwords, such as AI, along with strategic advice for leaders on adopting new technologies. He also discusses his vision for advancing innovation in his new role at Transflo.

FREIGHTWAVES: Which emerging technologies do you think will have the biggest impact on the supply chain in the next five years?

EVERHART: Obviously AI. It is a quickly evolving [tech] stack, and as an industry I think we are just scratching the surface.

The challenge here is that people have seen and [ridden] other [tech] hype cycles, so I don’t blame people for being cynical. We will continue to see novel applications of the new tech emerge and with a rapid rise of AI offerings over the next five years.

FREIGHTWAVES: Are there any technologies that are currently overhyped?

EVERHART: This is going to sound funny, but also AI.

I see many companies throwing a quick wrapper over an OpenAi [tool] or anthropic model and calling it revolutionary. Don’t forget: AI is an overarching label that encompasses more than just [language learning models].

FREIGHTWAVES: As automation and AI reshape logistics, what new skills do you think the workforce will need?

EVERHART: It’s my belief that it will be more impactful to the workers of today than search was when Google and competitors came on scene.

Advanced pattern recognition, with a focus on the critical actions required to address previously unidentified patterns, will become important.

In order to unlock the potential, the workforce will need to find a way to leverage it as a force multiplier versus viewing it as something that will replace them.

Skill growth will be needed in the arena of prompt engineering, how to tweak or think about model inputs and outputs, and helping others learn to utilize that knowledge as well.

FREIGHTWAVES: How should educational institutions or training programs adapt?

EVERHART: Embrace it. I’ve seen some academics embrace it fully, while others are still trying to ban it.

The reality is these are the tools people will use in their day-to-day jobs in the future.

FREIGHTWAVES: Is predictive logistics truly possible, or is it more effective to develop reactive systems?

EVERHART: It is my belief that an equilibrium between the two can and should exist.

Many things can be predicted, but at the core we are a reactive industry.

The supply chain is making strides in moving in that direction, but it will be more a shift of that spectrum versus a wholesale change.

FREIGHTWAVES: How accurate is current AI in forecasting disruptions?

EVERHART: It can’t fully [forecast disruption], yet. It can recognize patterns that we may not otherwise see and balance a ton of inputs that would be next to impossible for a human to weigh, but we need more data aggregation and consolidation in our industry for that to have a meaningful movement in accuracy of forecasting.

FREIGHTWAVES: How do you see blockchain technologies impacting the supply chain industry over time?

EVERHART: I think we see impacts [from blockchain] on the daily, [although] many people have declared blockchain dead or that it never landed in the supply chain.

I would say to those folks that they are interacting with blockchain technology on some regular internal level and don’t even realize it. Novel applications and their utility of tooling that relies on blockchain exist in many corners of the supply chain.

FREIGHTWAVES: With IoT, sensors and real-time data sharing, logistics has become more connected. How should leaders approach cybersecurity risks in such a connected supply chain?

EVERHART: If you don’t have a data governance policy in place for this data, that is step 1.

The exposure surface or attack vectors are growing at an exponential rate, and cybercriminals are getting more creative.

Moving to a zero-trust approach as early in your journey as possible is critical.

The days of not investing in cybersecurity even as a smaller company are gone, even if it’s just using a third-party firm for monitoring. We all have to do our part.

FREIGHTWAVES: From a technical perspective, how should logistics leaders be building their teams and operations to help fight fraud?

EVERHART: Compliance is becoming more of a technical role from a security perspective.

Consider how you are aligned internally and make sure your teams are talking.

Most importantly, collaborating with others in the industry.

FREIGHTWAVES: What should we count on technology to solve versus humans catching phishing attempts, etc.?

EVERHART: The technology being deployed on threat detection is way better than I could ever do as a human.

There are patterns and decisioning – this is where AI shines.

FREIGHTWAVES: How do you see your years of industry experience shaping your approach and impact in your new role at Transflo?

EVERHART: I have spent a considerable amount of time in my career building great relationships and seeing/seeking out opportunities to bring teams together.

This is a unique situation for me where I get to do that same work – just so happens is my favorite kind of work – at scale.

I’ve spent my first few days meeting the team and getting organized, but I am eager to unlock the potential of Transflo and our partnership ecosystem.