I spent the past two days attending the Information Technology Logistics Council (ITLC) Conference in Chicago. This three day event boasted a very strong agenda and was all attended by fleets, vendors and industry/government officials. Here are a few observations from the event:
EOBRs in the Industry – It was AMAZING to see just how many fleets are not using ANY type of onboard computers/recorders in their vehicles. While most of the attendees seemed to be in the For Hire (truckload and LTL) market segments, it is still mind boggling to me that the efficiencies gained by EOBRs are not more embraced by these fleets. This session highlighted the upcoming ruling by the FMCSA on probable EOBR mandates and what that will mean for the industry. It was clear that most fleets were investigating this technology and are anticipating some type of requirement for onboard recorders. It was also clear that while the ruling will only focus on HOS information, there is significant value in today’s systems far beyond electronic logs. Telematics data, driver performance, fuel conservation and turn by turn navigation are just a few of the benefits of today’s more advanced systems.
Eye Opener – the reliance on EDI amongst these companies was astounding. Having spent time with software vendors aimed at the financial services industry, the use of XML-based web services has been prevalent for five if not ten years. It was extremely disappointing to hear the “Web Applications in the Supply Chain” session highlight the importance of integrations using EDI. In 2008, any transportation company executive considering an IT investment in web applications fir their fleet management, transportation management system or any supply chain component would be essentially throwing money away if their systems were not leveraging web services and SOA integration. Today’s leading supply chain and transportation systems from vendors like TMW Systems, ALK, Manhattan Associates and many others are leveraging service oriented architecture and web services to facilite standards-based web application integration. Why? This ensures that the integrations are sustainable (not impacted by change) and are flexible enough to integrate with any system.
This is just a sample of articles that review the evolution of EDI with XML and SOA:
http://www.ebizq.net/topics/soa/features/8206.html
http://blogs.zdnet.com/service-oriented/?p=208
http://soa.sys-con.com/read/563225.htm
Exciting topic – Wireless Roadside Inspection (WRI). This was very cool. While it is still in pilot phase, the idea of a vehicle driving by an inspection station and instantly uploading HOS data to an inspector’s laptop, without stopping was very exciting. Keep your eyes open for more details on this.
Overall this was a very good conference and should be closely watched and considered next year. It would be very interesting to see more private fleets represented next year to highlight how their technology adoption is more mature than those for hire fleets. The advancements in supply chain optimization and technology adoption is far more prevalent in the private fleet sector and would be a valuable addition to next year’s event.
Author: Frank Moreno
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Private Fleets Fighting Back – Saving Thousands with Fleet Management
Northwest Food Products Transportation increases fuel economy, saves $500,000 in fuel in first year with Cadec. “One of the greatest cost savings achieved from our Cadec investment has been in the area of fuel economy. With our Cadec software, we were able to monitor their use of progressive shifting, a driving technique that can help save fuel by ensuring that trucks are running at lower RPMs. Increasing fuel efficiency by just one-tenth of a mile saves NFPT $100,000 annually. Through monitoring with Cadec, we were able to increase MPGs by a half-mile per gallon, saving $500,000 in fuel in the first year alone. That savings alone more than paid for our investment in Cadec. Maintenance costs also went down by 4.5 cents a mile. By reducing sudden decels and increasing use of progressive shifting, we had far fewer brake jobs on our hands.” Roger Nordtvedt, General Manager; Northwest Food Products Transportation
Automation helps CN Brown ensure timely delivery, improve safety and reduce operating costs in their fuel transportation business. “Cadec enables us to monitor and reduce idle time.That directly impacts the amount of fuel our fleet uses. Even with increases in fuel and operations costs and an additional 90,000 miles on the road in 2007, C.N. Brown was able to cut its overall fleet cost by three cents per mile as compared to 2006 – resulting in a total savings of $57,000. “Cadec’s software played a significant role in that,” Ken Cannell, Transportation Manager; CN Brown
G&C Foods Takes Control of Rising Transportation Costs, anticipating $300,000 savings in first year. “Within one week, we saw drastic reductions in both speeding and excessive idling. Our reports went from 80 percent red to just a few drivers in the red, and over time we’ve seen more improvements. Our ability to track this behavior with Cadec had a major impact on driver behavior... Penalties for Hours of Service violations are dramatic, and no matter how meticulous you think you are, paper logs are subject to basic human error. Cadec automates the whole process for us, recording hours of service, pickups, dropoffs… everything that we used to record by hand. Drivers don’t even need to think about it. Cadec ensures our records are accurate and complete.” Larry Clark, Transportation Manager; G&C Foods
“Our overall transportation expenses for 2008 will be about $6 million. If Cadec helps reduce that by just three percent, that’s $180,000 in savings. But when we consider all the areas Cadec can contribute to – reduced fuel consumption, safety improvements, better logging compliance, better return tracking, and improving our ability to collect on invoices – we think our savings will be closer to $300,000 per year. Cadec will be the key to reducing our transportation costs while improving service to our customers.” David LePage, President; G&C Foods
Morning Star anticipates cutting repair and maintenance costs in half “Most years we spend about $1.5 million on repair and maintenance, including accidents. A rollover, for instance, costs about $80,000, and even a minor incident can cost $10,000. We think that monitoring for safety through Cadec, and associated remedial training, can help us cut that $1.5 million in half.” Paul Pimmetel; Morning Star Foods
To read the complete case studies on each of these companies visit http://www.cadec.com/resources.php
Author: Frank Moreno
Automation helps CN Brown ensure timely delivery, improve safety and reduce operating costs in their fuel transportation business. “Cadec enables us to monitor and reduce idle time.That directly impacts the amount of fuel our fleet uses. Even with increases in fuel and operations costs and an additional 90,000 miles on the road in 2007, C.N. Brown was able to cut its overall fleet cost by three cents per mile as compared to 2006 – resulting in a total savings of $57,000. “Cadec’s software played a significant role in that,” Ken Cannell, Transportation Manager; CN Brown
G&C Foods Takes Control of Rising Transportation Costs, anticipating $300,000 savings in first year. “Within one week, we saw drastic reductions in both speeding and excessive idling. Our reports went from 80 percent red to just a few drivers in the red, and over time we’ve seen more improvements. Our ability to track this behavior with Cadec had a major impact on driver behavior... Penalties for Hours of Service violations are dramatic, and no matter how meticulous you think you are, paper logs are subject to basic human error. Cadec automates the whole process for us, recording hours of service, pickups, dropoffs… everything that we used to record by hand. Drivers don’t even need to think about it. Cadec ensures our records are accurate and complete.” Larry Clark, Transportation Manager; G&C Foods
“Our overall transportation expenses for 2008 will be about $6 million. If Cadec helps reduce that by just three percent, that’s $180,000 in savings. But when we consider all the areas Cadec can contribute to – reduced fuel consumption, safety improvements, better logging compliance, better return tracking, and improving our ability to collect on invoices – we think our savings will be closer to $300,000 per year. Cadec will be the key to reducing our transportation costs while improving service to our customers.” David LePage, President; G&C Foods
Morning Star anticipates cutting repair and maintenance costs in half “Most years we spend about $1.5 million on repair and maintenance, including accidents. A rollover, for instance, costs about $80,000, and even a minor incident can cost $10,000. We think that monitoring for safety through Cadec, and associated remedial training, can help us cut that $1.5 million in half.” Paul Pimmetel; Morning Star Foods
To read the complete case studies on each of these companies visit http://www.cadec.com/resources.php
Author: Frank Moreno
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