Throughout his session, “AI in Transportation: From Hype to Operational Impact,” at the Jarrett Supply Chain Summit on August 6 in Cleveland, JP Wiggins, CEO at 1Logtech, returned several times to an image of a horse-drawn freight wagon beside an early commercial truck.
At first, the image seemed to pose a simple question: During a period of technological change, do you want to be the buggy or the truck?
Yet, the history behind the two companies made the answer more complicated.
Wiggins had asked AI to create a period-appropriate transportation scene from the 1920s. The tool unexpectedly included two real Ohio companies: C.P. Wilson and Kelly-Springfield. Curious, he researched what happened to them.
As Wiggins explained, C.P. Wilson continued using older technology before gradually introducing trucks when the market and infrastructure were ready. The company grew into one of the country’s largest LTL carriers and operated successfully for decades. Kelly-Springfield, represented by the newer truck, went out of business much sooner.
The lesson was not that companies should resist innovation.
It was that being first does not automatically make a company successful.
AI Should Solve a Business Problem
That theme carried throughout Wiggins’ presentation. Transportation companies do not need to adopt every AI product simply because it is new or because competitors are talking about it.
Instead, leaders should begin with the work they are trying to improve.
AI is particularly effective at processing the unstructured information that fills transportation workflows: emails, contracts, PDFs, notes, customer communications and exception data. It can summarize information, identify patterns, draft responses and help employees work across systems more efficiently.
Wiggins also emphasized its limitations. AI can provide inconsistent or incorrect answers, and it is not always the right tool for work requiring precise calculations, optimization or predictable results. In those cases, deterministic software and human expertise remain essential.
This does not mean that you should resist AI because it can create vast efficiencies, but you should understand how, where, and when it is most practical for you and for your customers’ needs.
Faster Technology Does Not Eliminate the Hard Parts
AI can make coding, drafting and analysis faster, but it does not automatically make an entire project move faster.
Organizations still need to define requirements, obtain approvals, connect systems, test results and manage operational change. The technology may accelerate one part of the process without removing the organizational complexity surrounding it.
That distinction matters for transportation companies evaluating AI investments. A compelling demonstration is not the same as a successful deployment.
Follow the Economics
Wiggins also encouraged attendees to “follow the token math.”
AI tools consume tokens, which are the units used to process information and generate responses. Those tokens have a cost. As agents become more sophisticated, they may also consume more resources.
The practical question is whether the value of the task exceeds the cost of using AI to complete it. An AI agent making repeated calls about a high-value ocean shipment may make financial sense. The same approach may not be economical for a lower-value transaction.
The goal should not be to automate everything. It should be to automate the work where the business case is clear.
Let Customers Help Set the Pace
For transportation providers, Wiggins believes shippers will ultimately drive much of the industry’s AI adoption.
As customers introduce AI into planning, procurement and supply chain operations, their expectations of carriers, brokers and technology partners will change. Providers will need to connect with those systems, supply the right data, and support new ways of working.
That does not mean every company needs to race toward the newest tool today. It means leaders should stay close to their customers, understand how their needs are evolving and invest accordingly.
The buggy-versus-truck story offered a useful reminder: The companies that succeed through technological change are not always the ones that move first.
They are the ones that listen to the market, understand the economics and adapt when the technology creates meaningful value for their customers.
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