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That’s where automation comes in. Once considered the domain of forward-thinking tech teams, early adopters, or internal R&D units, it's emerging as a lever for navigating cost pressures, labor gaps, and increasingly complex operations.
This article examines the practical implications of this shift, where automation is delivering results, how businesses are implementing it, and why the real question today isn’t "Should we automate?" but rather "How fast can we start?"
If your business depends on vehicles, logistics, or distributed assets, the answers ahead may define how well you compete in the years to come.
Rising costs in logistics and transportation haven’t appeared overnight, but have been building gradually over the past few years and have now become structural. They come from multiple directions:
Labor costs are surging across Europe. This is especially acute in logistics, where companies must maintain service levels amid wage growth and workforce shortages. In Lithuania, the average wage has been climbing steadily. In 2024–2025, it has reached levels that many companies can no longer sustain without either raising prices or cutting quality, especially in a sector already strained for qualified drivers and mechanics.
Fuel costs continue to rise and remain volatile. Fuel prices in Lithuania are currently at €1.38 per liter (as of summer 2025), with further increases expected into 2026–2027. This price point has hovered around that level since 2021, but it's not yet something the market has adapted to with confidence. It still puts continuous strain on operating budgets.
Regulatory and tax burdens are increasing. Businesses face a wave of policy-driven cost inputs: higher road taxes, more widespread toll road usage, and tighter emissions regulations. These factors can impact the long-term viability of fleet investments.
Together, they form a layered risk environment.
Historically, companies could navigate similar environments by squeezing a bit more out of their staff, renegotiating contracts, or saving whenever possible. Those options are now off the table more often than not. Manual processes simply can't keep up. Trying to optimize logistics using spreadsheets and human intuition is frustrating, inefficient, and out of sync with today’s pace and scale.
While manual processes are losing ground, digital solutions are picking up pace and reshaping the fundamentals of logistics operations.
“GPS tracking has become commoditized, offering more affordability than ever. 2G networks are being retired in favor of faster and more reliable LTE and 5G, enabling new applications for fleet connectivity. New types of hardware and real-time data flows are giving businesses the kind of visibility that was unimaginable even five years ago. The gap between companies that embrace these technologies and those that don't is widening by the day,” says Aliaksei Shchurko, Chief Executive Officer at Gurtam, a global software developer with over two decades of experience building telematics and fleet management solutions used in more than 150 countries.
This gap is already underway in the way companies manage their most valuable assets: their fleets.
Automation touches every part of a modern enterprise, but fleet management is often where it begins. A commercial fleet isn't just a set of vehicles; it's the heartbeat of any business that relies on transportation, delivery, or field service. And it's also one of the most resource-intensive and complex parts of the operation.
Today's fleet management systems go far beyond vehicle tracking. They offer fuel consumption monitoring, predictive maintenance, smart route planning, driver behavior analysis, real-time performance dashboards, and full integration with enterprise systems, such as ERP and CRM.
These tools offer transparency. They identify inefficiencies that would otherwise go unnoticed. They allow for proactive decisions instead of reactive firefighting. Most importantly, they allow companies to scale sustainably, growing operations without simply multiplying costs.
That's why for many companies, automation doesn't just start with fleet management but rather evolves around it.
Let’s look beyond abstract claims and into the strategic shifts companies are actually making.
Consider a small to mid-sized transportation company in Poland. The company began noticing several costly issues: higher average fuel and AdBlue consumption, as well as frequent replacement of brake pads and discs on both trucks and trailers. These problems were largely tied to driving behavior.
In response, the company introduced an Eco Driving system as part of a fleet management solution. Upon implementation, the company has achieved an average reduction in fuel consumption of 5 liters per 100 km. These improvements also extend the life of the vehicle’s parts and reduce overall wear and tear, leading to more consistent uptime and lower long-term operating costs.
Meanwhile, in the French construction sector, firms like NGE operate sprawling machinery fleets with digital tools that allocate, monitor, and optimize usage across job sites.
Previously, NGE had faced ongoing challenges with limited visibility between departments. A centralized view of where assets were or how they were being used was needed to support operational efficiency.
The result was a powerful telematics solution allowing NGE to optimize fleet usage (even across a complex mix of vehicles), reduce downtime through proactive maintenance, and enhance safety monitoring.
Agriculture, long seen as a tradition-bound sector, is undergoing a quiet digital revolution in the EU.
AG info, a company offering fleet management tools for Czech farmers and beyond, is an example that is transforming the industry: what started as basic location tracking evolved into precision planning — knowing not just where a machine is, but what it’s doing, how efficiently it’s working, and when it will need service.
In peak season, for their clients, that foresight means the difference between harvesting on time and missing a critical window of opportunity.
For agricultural enterprises long challenged by tight margins, tools like those offered by AG info can play a decisive role in helping farms operate more predictably and better time their seasonal operations — factors that can strongly influence long-term viability.
Ireland’s rail operator offers another perspective on the application of automation. Faced with multiple operational challenges from unreliable factory-installed fuel level sensors to inefficient refueling routines and excessive idling, they turned to digital monitoring. The goal was to reduce fuel-related inefficiencies, prevent engine cutoffs, and improve remote control and oversight of train movements.
By digitizing train operations, they’ve improved overall operational visibility. Fuel consumption dropped by 10%, saving around 30 liters per 100 km. Idling time was cut by 80%, and labor costs fell by 40% — a clear sign that operational consistency doesn’t come at the cost of efficiency, but through it.
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In every case, the shift began with one pain point (fuel, delays, and underuse) and expanded into broader operational changes.
These businesses didn’t just improve their short-term numbers but also built systems that make them resilient in the face of change.
Fleet automation is a strategic choice already being made across the EU. From real-time route optimization to predictive maintenance, the technologies are proven, the ROI is visible, and the case studies are piling up.
Similarly, for Lithuanian companies, the moment is ripe. Labor shortages, operational risks, and compliance demands aren't going away. The landscape won’t become cheaper to operate or easier to navigate. But wise investment in digital tools can turn those pressures into performance.
The real question, then, isn’t whether automation aligns with one’s business strategy. Does waiting any longer make business sense at all?
