Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/993011
commercial carrier journal | june 2018 59 T hroughout 2018, the ratio of loads to trucks in the DAT load board network has set records. For the week ending May 12, the ratio was highest in the flatbed market, with 102 loads posted for every truck. Reefer was 8.5 and van was 6.4. Carriers have a full pipeline of loads coming from the spot market and contract customers. In this environment, how do they maximize the yield? One possibility is to use soware that matches capacity with orders more effectively. Load planning is a core feature in many fleet management sys- tems. Modern design tools and databases are able to assimilate more information into a single screen to improve the planning process and help generate higher profits. Customer service Fort Dodge, Iowa-based Decker Truck Line (CCJ Top 250, No. 122) uses McLeod Soware's LoadMaster system. Load plan- ning is handled by customer service representatives organized into flatbed, reefer and dry van divisions as well as geographical coverage areas. Decker has configured LoadMaster to present each CSR with live information for their respective equipment types and coverage areas. A reefer CSR in the Chicago area sees only the inbound and outbound reefer loads and trucks for that region, says Jennifer Brim, director of training and development. LoadMaster's main planning screen has a grid layout. One- half of the screen has orders in rows, with details listed in a string of columns. e other half shows available trucks with details on equipment and drivers. e columns for orders and trucks can be repositioned or hidden to prioritize information in the planning process. A CSR matching trucks with orders may want to look at "deadhead miles" and "driver availability for pickup." "Every person is much more efficient at their jobs because of the amount of information that is there and the way a person can customize their screen," Brim says. Decker CSRs also factor driver schedules into the planning process. e screen has columns that show the remaining hours in drivers' duty cycles and the remaining days before they are scheduled to return home, Brim says. Visual dispatch Fleets also are using interactive mapping tools to help make sense of complex information quickly. From the main planning screen of LoadMaster, users can access an interactive map that displays all essential order and truck information using color-coded push pins and hover boxes. Carriers have a full pipeline of loads coming from the spot mar- ket and contract customers. In this environment, how do they maximize the yield? The latest application advancements help carriers maximize yield BY AARON HUFF Fort Dodge, Iowa-based Decker Truck Line uses McLeod Soft- ware's LoadMaster system.