Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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BIG DATA I: EXCEPTION MONITORING WHAT INFORMATION – IF YOU HAD IT – WOULD CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS? BY AARON HUFF A fleet executive looks through batch reports from yesterday's data, and a few items catch his attention. One driver picked up the wrong trailer. Another missed a delivery appointment after running out of hours. "What am I supposed to do with this information?" he wonders. Fast forward a few years. The fleet now has mobile computing and enterprise-wide fleet management platforms. The executive is catching these and other mistakes before they happen. For mistakes that were missed, he – along with other employees and customers – expects immediate answers when something goes wrong. The volume, variety and velocity of information in the enterprise have increased significantly, but so have the data management challenges. According to a recent report by Gartner, enterprise data is expected to grow 650 percent in the next five years. The executive starts to wonder: "Am I asking the right questions?" If this scenario sounds familiar, you also might be wondering if more insights from your data could boost safety, customer service, profitability and other critical performance areas. Those insights might be found within your large data sets – or "big data." In the first of a three-part series on "Big Data," CCJ starts with management by exception. With so much information, today's fleet management systems are designed to get the right information to the right people at the right time. Systems also can empower people to take immediate corrective actions to solve problems – in many cases before the problems start. PROACTIVE CONTROLS Ben Franklin's famous phrase "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" certainly rings true in transportation. With little room for error, even minor mistakes in freight planning and execution can cost thousands of dollars in losses. A number of exception management tools can help by keeping a watchful eye on the decision-making process to prevent mistakes from entering into the system. PCS Software's Transportation Management System has a built-in feature that allows users to set business rules and specify which managers are notified whenever certain transactions do not meet company standards. When an exception is noted, the TMS pushes a notification to the correct manager. The transaction can be suspended until the manager approves it. Minimum load profitability is one example. When a dispatcher tries to assign a load to a driver, the PCS system immediately notifies the dispatcher if the assignment is below an established profit threshold. The dispatcher can change the load assignment or send a message request to management for approval. After the manager approves or rejects the decision, the system immediately notifies the dispatcher. If approved, the dispatcher can complete the assignment. McLeod Software offers the Rapid Alert Notification System that monitors transactions continuously in its LoadMaster and PowerBroker enterprise systems for asset and nonasset transportation providers. Users quickly can set up parameters for the transactions that take place within the system. A RANS alert can be issued when a certain threshold is crossed for deadhead mileage, revenue per mile or a limit on drivers' cash advances. The module Changing driver behavior is what it's all about. – Greg Whisenant, corporate transportation safety manager, Shaw Industries COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL 0313_TECHFeature.indd 69 | MARCH 2013 69 2/20/13 11:09 AM