Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/560501
JUSTIFYING THE COST WITH THE MEANS I have struggled a bit this time to write an informative article on Virtual Tools and Gadgets mostly because commercial matter energy transporters (think "beam me up, Scotty") don't exist yet so goods aren't moved with virtual tools or gadgets. So even though Internet Truckstop Group (ITG) is a leading provider of disruptive technologies in transportation including virtual tools and gadgets, that really isn't our true purpose. Our true purpose is to help you nd ways to blend the real world, where you exist and where the goods really move, with the technological worlds that do exist in a way that will help your businesses to work better—with better meaning more eciently, at a lower cost, with less deadhead mileage, making paperwork easier, etc. A big question that I am continually asked about technology is, "How can these technologies help my business?" For those of you who have been doing this for 20 years or more, dust o a few cobwebs and think back 20 years ago to how you did even the most simple things for your business like nding freight to haul. You hired a salesman to go door to door visiting manufacturers attempting to secure freight contracts for hauls in advance. When the truck delivered, if you were in an unknown area you might have pulled out your rolodex, your Gold broker directory, or even gone and sat at the truck stop waiting for a load to appear on one of the boards always hoping that there would be something there today so that you could keep moving or get back home. Today, you are booking those loads in advance before the truck even leaves and if you are using Truckstop Pro you are getting those leads in real-time as fast as they come onto the system. Most of the technologies that have been created and are used in transportation are like this and they have slowly replaced some of the older time- consuming ways we did things in the past. Some of the newer technologies being developed to take advantage of "big data" will build predictions of where you will be empty and nd ways to ll your truck even before you know that it will be empty! e next big question that I always hear is, "All these new technologies cost MONEY!" Yes, that is true. I haven't yet found a gadget or tool that didn't cost some money. "OUR TRUE PURPOSE IS TO HELP YOU FIND WAYS TO BLEND THE REAL WORLD, WHERE YOU EXIST AND WHERE THE GOODS REALLY MOVE..." "FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 20 YEARS OR MORE, DUST OFF A FEW COBWEBS AND THINK BACK 20 YEARS AGO TO HOW YOU DID EVEN THE MOST SIMPLE THINGS..." "TODAY, YOU ARE BOOKING THOSE LOADS IN ADVANCE BEFORE THE TRUCK EVEN LEAVES..." FROM THE DESK OF SCOTT "" continued on page 34 4 IT MAGAZINE Vo l . 9 , N o . 5