Phygital: Can The Logistics Industry Thrive By Connecting The Physical And Digital Worlds?

Guest commentary by Jonah McIntire (Trimble) on why companies should embrace the seamless integration of physical and digital systems to enhance their operations.

Oct 21, 2025

Transporting goods from Point A to Point B requires close collaboration between shippers, carriers, third-party logistics providers (3PLs), and recipients. In many ways, how these parties interact with each other and conduct day-to-day operations has remained largely unchanged for the past decade (or more). After all, the industry often still relies on phone conversations, lengthy email chains, paper documentation, and manual reporting to coordinate the smooth movement of freight.

But with a raft of digital technologies now available, this is no longer the best approach. Companies could be much more efficient if they embraced “phygital” — the seamless integration of physical and digital systems to enhance their operations.

So, what’s holding the industry back from integrating the physical and digital worlds? And where could companies see meaningful gains from adopting a phygital approach?

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As new Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) regulations such as Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive(CSRD), Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) gain momentum globally, supply chain leaders are facing rising pressure to achieve end-to-end transparency and compliance across all supplier tiers. This short survey aims to understand how companies are prioritizing ESG compliance, the progress they’ve made, and the obstacles they still face.

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