From the beginning, motor vehicles have been hardware-defined vehicles. That term didn’t exist in the early 1900s, of course. But early automobiles (and trucks) were vehicles designed around mechanical systems. Engines, transmissions, axles and other components dictated the basic design parameters of a given vehicle. From there, engineers went on to differentiate models based on intended applications or customer demographics.

But, regardless of whether you were designing a sports car, a luxury car, an economy model, or a commercial truck, every engineering and design decision that went into the vehicle was based on the basic hardware — the mechanical systems — that would power it and define its performance characteristics on the road.

All that is about to change.

The automobile will turn 140 years old next year (if we date its birth from Karl Benz’s 1885 Motorcar patent). That milestone will likely mark the sunsetting of the hardware-designed vehicle and the birth of a whole new way of designing cars and trucks — one that is going change automotive capabilities and how we interact with and use vehicles forever.

It's called the “software-defined vehicle.” And it is exactly what it sounds like.

Have You Ever Really Thought About What Your Smartphone Can Do?

Our society has gone through an astonishing and historical technological revolution over the past 30 or 40 years. We’re living through it, going on with our lives. Most of the changes come at a pace we can easily deal with.

In other words, over the past four decades, we’ve become conditioned to accept and deal with almost constant change. And we don’t really think about it much.

Stop for a moment and pull your phone out. Consider all the things that device does for you every day. Consider all the information about your life, your family, your health and your job that it contains. Think about all the applications that are on it. Your bank account. The weather. Your health in real time. Your health insurance. A camera. A photo library. Email. Text messages. Social media. Books. Music. YouTube. Instant access to a global internet computer network that can provide answers to any question that pops into your head.

And, of course, your phone is a dynamic device. It is routinely updated to expand its capabilities, introduce new functionality and ensure optimal performance at all times.

Consider all of that for just a moment, and you realize just how insane all of that is.

I was 12 years old in 1978. So, of course, I thought Kiss was the greatest rock and world band in the entire world.

(With age comes wisdom. So now I know that the Rolling Stones are the greatest rock and roll band in the entire universe. But I digress.)

Anyway… If you had told me in 1978 that one day I’d be able to pull a telephone out, click on a few digital buttons and watch an entire Kiss concert, I would have laughed at you.

You didn’t even see technology that advanced on “Star Trek.”

Notice that I’m not even saying pull “my” phone out. The idea of a personal telephone that you carried with you everywhere you went would have been mind-blowing in and of itself. Even if all you could do with it was call someone anywhere in the world and talk to them on it.

Why Your Truck is a Smartphone on Wheels

Now. Imagine for a moment if your vehicle — or any vehicle you climbed into— delivered the same level of functionality, personal interaction, information, communication and capabilities that your smartphone does. A vehicle that could take over and manage tasks for you. A vehicle that knew where you were going and was actively helping you get to that destination as quickly, efficiently and safely as possible.

Furthermore, imagine a vehicle that could be frequently updated to add features and functionality and guarantee optimal performance over its entire life. A vehicle that actually performs better and adds capabilities over its lifetime.

Start thinking along those lines and you start to understand what a software-defined vehicle is and why it will be such a dramatic departure from the vehicles we have today.

It’s a remarkable concept and one that seems a bit overdue, considering how pervasive technology is in our lives today.

But software-defined vehicles are coming. Soon.

If the evolution and history of smartphones are any indication, a revolution in how we interact with and use vehicles won’t be far behind.

And if there’s any transportation segment that seems tailor-made for software defined vehicles, it’s trucking. Our industry is on the cusp of a whole new era of moving freight efficiently and effectively.

A massive transportation transformation is coming. And it will be unlike anything the trucking industry has ever seen before.