D i s p at c h i n g & C o m m u n i c at i o n s
Automated Dispatching for All
Small companies can benefit from big-time technology
By Debra Reschke-Schug
M
any fuel oil companies have
Ken Kauffman, owner
of Kauffman Gas.
Photo courtesy of
George Francy with
ADD Systems.
moved into automated dispatch-
ing, but some think they are too
small in size to switch to the new technologies available today. Not true, said Saul
Cohen manager of the energy division
for Cargas.
"Anyone who's hesitant to make the
investment should consider the value of fewer
miles, better productivity, and less wear-andtear on the vehicles themselves," he said.
Take a joint case study by Cargas Systems
and Roadnet Technologies with their collaboration in helping Wilson Oil of Wallingford,
Pa., a small heating oil and HVAC company.
Wilson Oil wanted to update the company's
manual method of routing their delivery
trucks. Not unlike many other small heating
oil companies, Wilson began each day printing out tickets, bursting them, filing them
and letting drivers sequence their stop tickets
themselves. Wilson reached out to Cargas,
based in Lancaster, Pa., who referred them to
Roadnet, headquartered in Townson, MD.
"We wanted software that was userfriendly, scalable, and most of all, seamless,
with close integration between delivery,
truck level, routing, mapping, tracking, all
the way to billing," said David O'Connell,
president of Wilson Oil.
Kauffman Gas trucks in Atglen, Pa. Photo courtesy of George Francy with ADD Systems.
Paperless Steps – the Raven way
ADD Systems' Raven goes through the
delivery process in the following steps:
Deliveries due are pulled, sorted and
assigned for each driver.
Optimized map-based routes are generated and dispatchers might tweak the path
based on their knowledge of the area.
Virtual "tickets" are downloaded auto-
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mated to Raven overnight, or immediately,
as needed.
A "cheat sheet" manifest can be printed
for the office and driver.
Drivers take their handhelds and run
through their route, printing an extended
ticket upon completion.
Delivery information is wirelessly
June 2013 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
uploaded in real-time.
End-of-shift files are uploaded to the
office computer at the end of the shift.
Posting can be updated as soon as the
shifts are uploaded.
Invoices can be sent to customers the
same day as posting, generating quick cash
flow.