A New Perspective

(The following entry is contributed by Scott MacDougall, Sales Engineer at Cadec.)

Having been with Cadec for over 14 years in the capacity of either field engineer or customer support I have had the opportunity to work with our customers extensively to improve their understanding our products. Earlier this year I took a position as Sales Engineer. My responsibilities now are to travel with the sales team on their appointments to demonstrate the products we have, answer technical questions and assist with showing the customers how Cadec will increase their efficiency and decrease their costs.

This new role has opened my eyes to some interesting points with regards to the Cadec systems:

Our product is a great driver coaching product. From the Driver’s Available Hours report to our patented ETOG application, data showing stops, delays, routing, vehicle data, account information and a drivers habits can all be reviewed to measure driver behavior. With over 90 build in reports you can assist your drivers in meeting company standards for idling, RPM, speeding and route standards. From my previous experience I had known this and worked with customers with analyzing data, but the value is much more obvious now as I work with potential customers who have nothing in their vehicles to collect data. These companies are going to see a fast and overwhelming increase in driver efficiency and vehicle performance with Cadec installed.

Sharing driver, vehicle and delivery data across the supply chain. With our canned reports you can find out almost anything about a driver, trip, account and vehicle information. While I was in customer support I would always be helping customers understand reports and increase performance. Now, I see where the detailed information gathered can be exported and interfaced with other systems. The data can be used for payroll, routing, account servicing and many other aspects, not only improving automation but increasing the visibility into delivery operations and performance.

Going legal. Some people think they cannot realize a profit by adhering to the DOT rules. NOW is the time to start closing that gap instead of waiting for a mandate that OBCs will be required. The first step is gathering data. Without any system installed a company has little understanding of how their drivers, vehicles and routes are working. With an installed system there is clear, concise data to make decisions and improvements. I remember installing a system for a customer. On my follow-up call reviewing driver activity reports with them we found a driver who was on an on-duty delay every Tuesday at 11:00 AM for an hour. Asking the driver about this he told us the dock was closed from 11:00 AM – Noon. He never told anyone and was making money while reading the paper. Most drivers are not out to take advantage of their companies, but if you add up all these small indiscretions, you are starting to close the gap. What is the cost of a driver, vehicle and an hour of idling? (Oh, don’t forget to multiply times 52 for this one example…)

Driver coaching, interfacing data and closing the gap. Since moving from post sales, to presales I have been able to recognize additional cost savings and company improvements you can have in time, fuel, increased driver retention and cheaper vehicle maintenance costs to name a few by leveraging the Cadec fleet management system.