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At the same time, the long tail of small fleets chooses not to connect their electronic logging devices to visibility platforms for a variety of reasons and often lacks a transportation management system, leaving visibility dependent on driver mobile apps and manual status updates with higher risk of gaps and errors. In this environment, undifferentiated visibility, especially without fraud sensing, is low value and risky.
Supply chain visibility continues to rank among the most critical transportation management capabilities in the industry today, and studies show that financially leading companies are actually increasing technology investment and automation to turn this data into a competitive weapon.
Looking ahead to 2026, tightening capacity and likely rate inflation will push shippers and logistics providers to invest in technologies( that leverage supply chain visibility data) to optimize networks, streamline processes, review private and dedicated fleet deployments, and secure reliable carrier partnerships to maintain service levels and mitigate cost impacts. Agentic AI and automation will also grow in adoption, orchestrating end-to-end transportation workflows that are triggered from events in visibility platforms.
Accurate supply chain visibility is not a given today, and technology only adds value when it converts noisy— and sometimes manipulated— signals into trusted, actionable intelligence that improves safety, cost, and service, and that reduces
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the risk of fraud. Differentiation comes from combining quality visibility data with other systems, empowering logistics professionals to take meaningful action.
Dispatch Science
Arthur Axelrad
CEO and Co-Founder www. dispatchscience. com
If visibility is now a commodity, the real differentiator is what you can do with what you see. Most organizations can access basic tracking information, but far fewer can turn that information into decisions, workflows or meaningful operational change. Technology adds value when it reduces friction between data, people and action— when it helps teams move from insight to impact.
This matters especially in the carrier ecosystem, one of the most fragmented parts of the supply chain. Many carriers still operate with outdated or inconsistent systems, and visibility alone doesn’ t solve the operational gaps created by that fragmentation. Technology becomes valuable when it makes data truly usable: clean, structured, real-time, and easy to connect to other systems such as warehouses, planning tools or decision platforms. When companies can move data freely— without bottlenecks or proprietary constraints
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— they gain the freedom to design processes that fit their own business rather than adopting one-size-fits-all workflows.
Open architectures and modern APIs are crucial here. No single platform can meet every carrier’ s needs. A flexible tech environment creates value by letting companies integrate the tools that matter to them, automate manual handoffs, and assemble their own combination of capabilities. In that model, visibility is the baseline. The real advantage comes from enabling faster iteration, adapting to change and using analytics or AI to flag issues before they become service failures.
Ultimately, technology adds value by giving carriers greater control— over their data, their workflows and the pace at which they innovate. Visibility may be ubiquitous now, but transforming raw information into smarter, more responsive operations is not. That’ s where modern technology truly makes a difference.
DSV
Jesper Riis
CIO www. dsv. com
Artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in the fabric of global logistics, offering transformative potential in shipping.
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“ Many carriers still operate with outdated or inconsistent systems, and visibility alone doesn’ t solve the operational gaps created by that fragmentation.”
Arthur Axelrad
“ Human expertise remains essential for handling exceptions, interpreting ambiguous data and navigating regulatory nuances.”
Jesper Riis
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