Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/140569
ACTION TURNING DATA INTO By AARON HUFF DISPATCH SOFTWARE CAN HELP TURN STRATEGIES INTO RESULTS QUICKLY L ike many commercial and private fleets, the Celadon Group continues to move in new directions. The Indianapolis-based company recently added refrigerated to its list of truckload and intermodal services thanks to last January's acquisition of Warren, Ind.-based Rock Leasing. As with Celadon's other acquisitions, the company is bringing its large capacity and efficiency – 3,000 trucks and a domestic and international network with coverage in Mexico and Canada – to the operating table. Celadon is using its centralized load planning system to help implement the new refrigerated service and is adding 250 reefer trailers – along with new drivers and customers. The planning system, Driver&Load from Manhattan Associates, simultaneously considers all cost factors and constraints for matching available equipment and drivers with loads. It gives Celadon's load planners the optimal driver-load assignments to reduce empty miles and maximize asset utilization, customer service and hours-ofservice compliance. As part of the new refrigerated service, Celadon will consolidate load planning across its business divisions, which include automotive, food and beverage, retail, manufacturing and now temperature control. "We want to be able to integrate all of those together so that all our drivers should be able to handle refrigerated freight," says Matt Douglass, director of planning and optimization. With Driver&Load and other systems Celadon has in place, this integration soon will become reality. If a driver is making money, everyone is making money. – Craig Aimers, general manager, Preferred Carrier Logistics In any business – and especially in transportation – the ability to execute new strategies quickly and precisely creates a powerful advantage, and technology is central to this effort. Consider how these five features in transportation management software systems can help turn your strategies into results rapidly. REAL-TIME ROADMAP One goal shared by all fleets is to improve their key performance metrics, such as deadhead percentage, revenue per mile and operating ratio. TMS systems can provide everyone a real-time roadmap for how to get there. A decision support tool in PCS Software's Express TMS platform automatically filters the options to match drivers with available loads. As soon as a carrier accepts a load from a shipper, Express analyzes drivers' current dispatch schedules. An algorithm immediately rules out drivers that cannot take the load due to the required pickup time or time window. Drivers then are listed onscreen in order of least deadhead miles. "We have found that by putting this information in front of the dispatcher each time they make an assignment, deciCOMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL 0713_TECHFeature.indd 59 | JULY 2013 59 6/19/13 2:29 PM