Why AI Is Transforming Trucking, According to Trimble Experts

AI’s buzz in trucking is justified, Trimble panel says

Artificial intelligence drew strong support — along with several warnings about how it should be used — at Trimble’s Insight 2026 conference in San Diego.

Executives and industry leaders at the conference said AI is already producing practical results in areas such as customer service, rate pricing, route optimization and freight brokerage. But they also emphasized that fleets may need to redesign their workflows, rather than simply add AI tools to existing systems, to realize the technology’s full value.

Trimble President and CEO Rob Painter compared the current moment to the early adoption of electric motors in factories. When factories first replaced steam engines, many installed a single large motor while leaving the existing belts, shafts and pulleys in place. The biggest productivity gains came later, he said, when factories installed smaller motors on individual machines and reorganized production around them.

“Today, AI is our electric motor,” Painter told attendees.

The comparison reflects Trimble’s broader argument: AI should not be treated only as a faster way to complete individual tasks. Its greater effect may come from changing how information moves through a trucking operation and how people make decisions based on that information.

That could affect dispatching, driver communication, maintenance planning, customer service, pricing and other daily functions. For professional drivers, the practical question is likely to be whether AI reduces repetitive administrative work and improves the quality of information they receive — or adds another layer of monitoring and procedure.

Trimble used the conference to introduce new AI-related products and enhancements, including browser-based, AI agent-ready updates to its core Carrier TMS platforms. The modernized systems include TMW.Suite, TruckMate, Innovative and Fuel Dispatch.

According to Trimble, the cloud-hosted platforms are designed to preserve existing operational logic while providing browser-based interfaces that allow people and AI agents to work with the same information. The company also highlighted Trimble TMS, its native cloud platform for growing North American full-truckload operations.

Trimble Chief Technology Officer Dan Kornhauser said the goal is to add new capabilities without forcing customers into disruptive platform replacements. He described the value of the technology as a combination of AI and human context, rather than automation operating independently from the people who understand the business.

The conference began Sept. 27 and was scheduled to continue through Sept. 29 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. It included more than 200 sessions focused on artificial intelligence, transportation management systems and freight market trends.

In a panel discussion following the opening keynote, Lee Klaskow, senior analyst for logistics at Bloomberg Intelligence, said AI stands apart from several earlier technology trends that attracted significant attention but produced more limited results.

“I’ve been covering this space for some 20-odd years,” Klaskow said. “It’s the first technology hype that’s actually worth the hype.”

Klaskow pointed to blockchain and autonomous vehicles as examples of technologies that have been widely discussed over the years. AI, he said, is already showing benefits in specific freight applications, including alerts about missed pickups, identifying when the next pickup should occur, customer service, rate pricing and route optimization.

He cited C.H. Robinson as an example of a company whose increasing revenue and profitability, despite substantial reductions in headcount, indicate that AI can contribute to measurable business results.

Craig Fuller, CEO of FreightWaves, said freight brokers generally have been more willing than asset-based carriers to adopt new technology. Brokers, he said, are looking for tools that can help them buy transportation more efficiently or handle more loads with the same resources.

Brokerage companies face pressure when margins per transaction decline. Fuller said AI may help them respond by increasing the number of transactions they can manage, while also helping with tasks such as carrier selection and customer communication.

Asset-based carriers, by contrast, often have longer technology sales and implementation cycles. Fuller attributed that caution to the narrow margins and operating demands of trucking, where companies must carefully examine the return on every investment.

The panel also made clear that AI implementation can create problems when it is imposed without considering the people who use the system. Fuller described an example involving a company where an AI rollout produced no measurable productivity improvement but did upset drivers.

“The key,” Fuller said, is not to put AI “between you and your most important resource.”

That concern is especially relevant for drivers, who often have to manage changing schedules, traffic, weather, equipment issues and customer requirements in real time. A system that lacks accurate information or ignores driver judgment can create additional friction instead of improving operations.

Alex Formoso, executive vice president for procurement and supply chain at Polyglass U.S.A., offered a shipper’s perspective on how technology can make business communication more useful. Polyglass receives frequent emails and calls from brokers offering general services, he said, many of which are deleted.

A more effective approach is for a broker to demonstrate that it understands the shipper’s actual freight patterns. Formoso gave the example of a broker recognizing that Polyglass regularly moves product from Texas to Florida and then identifying a possible backhaul opportunity.

That kind of specific knowledge signals that the broker has done meaningful research, Formoso said. It also illustrates where AI can be useful: organizing large amounts of operational data so a person can make a more relevant recommendation.

The panelists placed AI within a freight market also being shaped by regulatory pressure and increased government oversight. Fuller said those changes are creating a different operating environment for transportation companies. Technology is part of that shift, but it is not the only factor affecting how brokers, carriers, shippers and drivers conduct business.

The central message from Trimble’s conference was measured rather than limitless: AI can help trucking companies make better use of information and automate routine work, but the benefits depend on implementation. Fleets may need to rethink established workflows, maintain a role for human judgment and ensure that new systems support — rather than obstruct — the people doing the work.