Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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TECHNOLOGY LEADS FLEETS' EFFORTS TO DIVERSIFY THEIR SERVICES BY AARON HUFF T wo years ago, Rocking T Transportation still was haul- ing cattle exclusively. But when its largest customer de- cided to start a private fl eet, company president Brent Shilling had 90 days to act before the contract expired. Shilling purchased a fl eet of reefer trailers and solicited cus- tomers in the meat industry for freight. A few months later, he bought pneumatic tank trailers and began hauling frac sand to oil fi elds for drilling. The new refrigerated and oilfi eld operations recaptured the lost revenue from the cattle haul, but they also created an information void. As a cattle hauler, Amarillo, Texas- based Rocking T had been making one-stop deliveries to a small number of locations. It now had to manage multistop loads, irregular routes and unexpected delays at shipping and receiving locations. Having real-time visibility of driv- ers and assets became critical. As part of the transition, the company implemented People- Net's mobile communications and onboard computing system. Through a real-time interface with its SSI Power Pro dispatch software, Rocking T is operating more effi ciently than ever with 25 pneumatic tankers and 50 reefers added to its scaled-back fl eet of 15 cattle trailers. In hindsight, losing the contract turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Rocking T. "When we were relying on one com- modity, any market fl uctuations in volume would really upset our daily business," Shilling says. "Now we are able to better balance between commodities." Whether a fl eet decides to diversify its operations in the af- termath of a crisis or as part of an ongoing strategy, technology 66 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2012 will be as critical to success as any investment in equipment and infrastructure. Where to go? During his keynote address at the ALK Transportation Technology Summit last May, Derek Leathers, president and chief operating offi cer of Wer- ner Enterprises, said transpor- tation companies must evolve continually to survive. Werner Enterprises has grown from a truckload carrier into a global logistics provider with $2 billion in revenue and $103 million in annual net income. While the company has 7,300 trucks and 23,000 trailers to move freight, equipment is not its only asset in demand. Werner also has grown by using tech- nology to move freight for its customers in these areas: Using third-party logistics services to increase effi cien- cies; "The days of competing for a customer with regional or national coverage are gone," Leathers said. To be consid- ered relevant to a shipper with a big freight network, transportation providers must manage freight on an international scale; and Using technology to design freight bids and add compre- hensive logistics solutions that create additional value for customers. In addition to adding technology to grow nonas- set transportation services, carriers continue to fi nd ways to diversify their operations to enter new markets with more robust growth potential. "When we were relying on one commodity, any market fluctuations in volume would really upset our daily business." – BRENT SHILLING, PRESIDENT, ROCKING T TRANSPORTATION