Commentary sensor hubs on assets, while LoRaWAN networks collect and verify data across logistics nodes. Together, they create a unified event layer that can scale independently of carrier adoption rates. As shipper-owned devices, e-seals and independent IoT networks proliferate, verified, devicegenerated events will increasingly emerge from the physical supply chain itself. The shift is clear: visibility is moving from reconstructed narratives to sensor-verified truth.

That shift also unlocks a new data economy. In the next digital phase, value will accrue to those closest to the physical event. When a gate-in, gate-out, load-on or discharge is authenticated by a device owned and operated at the edge, it becomes a trusted event with economic weight. This is the foundation for visibility-as-a-transaction.

The industry is entering a phase where data behaves like a financial asset, valued for its provenance, verification and trust. Sensor-verified events become units of value that can trigger eBL workflows, automated settlements and smart contracts, directly tying physical actions to money and compliance.

This forces visibility platforms to choose a new role: become neutral data exchanges that monetize verified events or evolve into orchestration layers that compete with freight management systems. In either case, the old subscription model gives way to transaction-linked economics, where accuracy and dense, real-time IoT streams are what get paid for.

Despite the hype about how AI will transform our industry, its effectiveness depends on high-quality event data. Without trusted and detailed events, AI mostly guesses. As the industry shifts to device-driven data, AI can shift from forecasting to real-time orchestration, balancing inventories, synchronizing flows and optimizing networks based on actual events rather than assumptions. As sensor-based visibility, digital records and event-linked payments merge, a new architecture for real-time coordination is emerging.

The key question is who can adapt their business model quickly to thrive in this new environment.

Our industry now has the technology to produce operational truth at scale through direct observation, not inference. The key is whether we’ re ready to redesign incentives, systems and partnerships to realize its full potential value. I look forward to exploring this future at the Journal of Commerce’ s TPM26 conference in early March, one the global supply chain is finally ready to build.

Peter Creeden is managing director at MPC International. email: peter. creeden @ mpc-international. com

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