HERE brings AI route intelligence to fleet operations at IAA Transportation 2026
HERE Technologies will showcase AI-powered route optimization and decision-support tools at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hannover, Germany, where the mapping and location data company plans to demonstrate how fleets can adapt when morning route plans collide with afternoon traffic, driver shortages, or last-minute order changes. The announcement, made Thursday, targets a persistent operational gap: static plans that fail within hours of dispatch.
The company's core pitch is practical. Routes planned early in the day can be disrupted by congestion, carrier failures, vehicle restrictions, and address-level access problems. HERE is positioning its platform as a way to close the gap between planning and execution, not just produce better initial routes.
Three capabilities, one reasoning layer
HERE is advancing route optimization by connecting three capabilities. The first is a time and constraint-dependent route solver that accounts for changing conditions throughout the day. The second is last meter delivery guidance that captures driver and delivery feedback from the curb, loading dock, or final drop-off point. The third is an AI reasoning layer designed to explain route optimization decisions, surface actionable adjustments for dispatch teams, and support continuous improvement over time.
The company will also demonstrate an AI agent tasked with identifying and explaining the safest, most compliant, and productive route for heavy transport. The goal is to give dispatchers a higher degree of confidence when planning operations involving oversized or regulated cargo.
"The opportunity is not just to create a better plan, but to help transportation teams anticipate changes and know what to do next," said Bart Coppelmans, Senior Director of Product Management at HERE Technologies. "By combining commercial vehicle routing, driver feedback and location-aware AI reasoning, HERE helps fleets and logistics providers make more confident decisions from planning through execution."
Built for global operations
HERE provides commercial vehicle coverage in more than 90 countries across major logistics corridors. Its API routes trucks about 225 billion kilometers per month and is used by transport management systems worldwide. That scale matters for operations teams managing multinational fleets or regional distribution networks that need consistent vehicle intelligence across markets with different regulations and restrictions.
The platform lets customers deploy location intelligence across business applications, data environments, and AI architectures while keeping control of operational data. This flexibility is aimed at organizations that already run AI for Operations workflows and want to integrate routing intelligence without rebuilding their stack.
Industry sessions at IAA
HERE will host an Industry Stage session on September 15 from 16:00 to 16:45 titled "From Data to Decisions: How Location Intelligence Is Transforming Truck Mobility." Participants include Bart Coppelmans and Sowmya Gopal from HERE, Andreas Josko from Daimler Truck, Niclas Gyllenram from AiDEN Auto, and Ryan Wiggin from ABI Research as moderator.
On September 16, HERE joins WirelessCar for a Main Stage session titled "Connected Trucks Meet AI: Developing Smarter Logistics Processes" from 10:30 to 11:00. Speakers Marvin Ruf from HERE and Niklas Florén from WirelessCar will discuss how connected vehicle data, location intelligence, and AI help fleet operators anticipate disruptions and turn real-time insights into faster decisions.
Visitors to the HERE booth in Hall 13 will see demonstrations of commercial vehicle operations, fleet optimization, shipment visibility, and next-generation logistics workflows. HERE experts will be available to discuss how location intelligence can improve efficiency and resilience across global networks.
Why this matters for operations teams
For operations professionals, the shift HERE is describing is specific: moving from optimization tools that return an answer to systems that explain why certain orders, routes, or constraints are affected and suggest next steps. That distinction has direct consequences for dispatchers who currently juggle multiple screens and gut calls when plans break. For teams evaluating AI-powered routing, the relevant question is whether a tool can explain its reasoning well enough to act on under time pressure - not just whether it produces a mathematically better route. Those looking to build the skills to evaluate such systems can start with an AI Learning Path for Transportation Managers.
Your membership also unlocks:
