Logistics and transport organisations are feeling the strain of connectivity more acutely than any other industry, according to a major global survey produced for internet of things (IoT) firm Pelion.

The Connected Fleet 2026 report, jointly produced by Pelion and ABI Research, surveyed 675 global business leaders across multiple industries. This cross-sector study featured targeted insights from 165 international IoT decision-makers within major logistics and transport organisations.

Notably, 68% of these transport professionals identified unstable cellular connectivity and insufficient network capacity as the primary obstacles to scaling their IoT deployments – marking the highest proportion of any sector included in the research.

For businesses that rely on real-time fleet tracking, cold-chain monitoring and parcel visibility, even brief periods of connectivity loss can disrupt operations, reduce customer visibility and impact service-level agreements. The findings reflect an industry under growing pressure to deliver uninterrupted, data-driven logistics across increasingly complex supply chains.

The rapid development of AI, combined with an increasingly global marketplace for growth-hungry companies means effective, consistent connectivity has become essential infrastructure for businesses in a multitude of industries – enabling organisations to track assets across the world, monitor performance remotely, optimise supply chains and respond faster to operational issues wherever and whenever they occur.

The findings also reveal security is emerging as an equally significant challenge. More than a quarter (27%) of logistics respondents reported experiencing a cellular IoT security incident during the past 12 months – the highest rate across all industries surveyed, ahead of manufacturing (26%), smart buildings (25%), healthcare (24%) and energy (19%).

As transport operators connect more vehicles, trailers, warehouses and cargo assets, the industry’s ‘attack surface’ continues to expand. This mirrors wider market trends, with analysts forecasting that the number of connected IoT devices worldwide will exceed 40 billion by the end of the decade, making robust device management and network security increasingly critical for supply chain resilience.

The research also uncovers that logistics leaders are particularly concerned about their ability to detect threats before they disrupt operations. A total of 62% identified insufficient threat detection as one of their biggest risks when scaling IoT deployments – the highest figure recorded across all sectors.

Unlike industries where compliance or data privacy dominate security discussions, logistics organisations are primarily focused on maintaining visibility across highly distributed fleets and warehouse environments, where cyber incidents can quickly translate into operational delays, lost shipments and financial losses. With ransomware and supply chain attacks continuing to target critical infrastructure globally, improving real-time monitoring and automated threat detection is becoming a strategic priority.

In the longer term, logistics is set to become even more international in its use of connected technologies. Pelion’s research predicts that by 2030, 49% of logistics IoT deployments will operate across international borders, compared with 29% today.

Dave Weidner, CEO of Pelion, said cConnectivity itself is no longer the difficult part of enterprise IoT.

“The challenge comes when enterprise customers take their fleets internationally, grow in scale and operate across multiple networks, jurisdictions and regulatory environments. Organisations are increasingly looking for partners that can simplify that operational complexity rather than add to it.”

“The potential for an IoT revolution is significant, but only if we can overcome some of the critical infrastructure, security and expertise barriers holding deployment back. If we can overcome some of the short-term challenges, the future of enterprise IoT connectivity will be increasingly borderless, managed and eSIM-enabled, with buyers placing greater emphasis on security architecture, advisory services and unified management platforms when selecting connectivity providers.”

Pelion’s The Connected Fleet 2026 report is online here.