BENTONVILLE, ARK, DEC. 21, 2022-The supply chain has experienced more changes in the past year than ever expected while driving technology forward to meet new demands head-on. This rapid growth has driven freight technology trends, so we're going to look at freight tech changes you can expect to see in 2023 so you're prepared to adopt new tech into your business.

Outsourced IT Talent will Grow

Demand for outsourced IT talent in the logistics industry will steadily rise in 2023 due to the increasing need for skilled IT professionals who can help improve operations and efficiencies. The root causes of this uptick are attached to the increased complexity of technology-driven logistics used by businesses to drive down costs, thereby improving the bottom line.

Due to labor shortages, particularly that of highly skilled roles, as well as ever-shifting consumer trends, increasing labor costs, and inflation concerns, transportation and logistics companies are seeking out outsourced consultants to push forward the development of new tech.

The need to fill technology development roles in logistics goes beyond just creating new technology solutions for the back office. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in October 2022, there were 482,000 transportation, warehousing, and utility jobs vacant in the United States. Attempting to fill these unwanted labor roles is clearly not a practical solution. Logistics executives are increasingly turning to outsourcing technology development to drive consistent processes and close this labor gap.

Market Volatility Will Call for Automated Negotiations

Looming market volatility will continue to put pressure on supply chains. Automating negotiations, for example, is a way to mitigate risk. This automation can ensure the best possible price for logistics companies' goods and services.

Bloomberg explains how "volatility in transportation markets means freight carriers and their customers often want to rewrite contracts - traditionally a cumbersome process" for businesses of all sizes. Because many freight contracts are based on data and follow formulas and market trends, this process is better carried out by automation.

In 2023 we will see more investment in this technology as more organizations work to automate the time-consuming, back-and-forth process of rate negotiations with carriers and shippers. Businesses of all sizes have already seen success with this type of tech, so now is the time to begin implementing it.

We Will See More API Standardization

Recently, Convoy, J.B. Hunt, and Uber Freight announced that they are forming the Scheduling Standards Consortium (SSC) to create "the freight industry's first formal set of appointment scheduling application programming interface (API) standards." By creating these standards , organizations will have consistent visibility into supply chain scheduling, thus minimizing detention fees, higher rates, and other issues that arise from fragmented scheduling processes.

While the SSC is focused on API standards for scheduling procedures, as more and more organizations throughout the supply chain utilize technology to streamline processes, we will see more groups like this form to standardize how these technologies integrate and work together.

2023 Will be a Year of Change and Innovation

2023 will be an exciting year for the supply chain as we see new technologies and approaches emerge that will help to further optimize and streamline operations. We can expect to see more use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to help automate decision-making, as well as the continued adoption of API standardization that will make it easier for software developers to create applications that can be used across organizations.

Arguably, the biggest trend we will see in 2023 is outsourced technology development teams. Although it seems daunting at times, using external IT teams to create new technology in the supply chain will make every aspect of operations more efficient, resulting in greater innovation and supply chain resilience in 2023.