Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/795447
64 commercial carrier journal | march 2017 TECHNOLOGY: FINAL-MILE DELIVERY Crossing the threshold rough acquisitions and organic growth, XPO Logistics (No. 3) has become North America's largest provider of last-mile delivery services for heavy goods. XPO has business relationships with over 4,000 independent contractors who cross an average of 35,000 thresholds a day. Last year, the company handled more than 13 million last-mile white-glove deliveries. "We deal with unique situations, such as in-home installations that require a two-person team and the removal of old equip- ment," says Charles Hitt, president of XPO Logistics' Last Mile business unit. "When an item is bought online, the last-mile delivery person replaces the in-store sales associate as the most personal and memorable interaction with a retailer's brand." In 2014, irregular-route truckload carrier CalArk (No. 174) began offering contract warehousing and distribution services by purchasing a 650,000-square-foot warehouse close to its main facility in Little Rock, Ark. e growing company also has developed a final-mile white- glove service that uses straight trucks and Sprinter vans to deliver furniture and other large household goods. CalArk began its final-mile delivery service with 20 drivers and now has 154. "at market continues to grow very rapidly," says Malea Still, vice president of development and sustainability. Route planning Routing soware is an essential tool for private and commercial fleets to cut costs and meet the tight customer service demands of e-commerce. Nebraska Furniture Mart uses the Appian rout- ing application from TMW Systems to expand the capabilities of its home delivery model. NFM operates four stores in Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Neb.; Kansas City, Kan.; and Dallas-Fort Worth. Each store has its own fleet of vehicles to deliver merchandise to customers within a 400-mile radius. NFM trucks average about 15 delivery stops each day. As customers purchase goods in stores or online, the orders are grouped into geographical zones for route planning. Appian designs the most economical routes for each zone by considering freight dimensions, routing preferences, delivery constraints and other factors. Once Appian designs the routes, NFM may alter the plan slightly by moving stops to another route should circumstances change because of labor supply and other variables. On the day of delivery, NFM contacts its customers to provide a two-hour time window for arrival. As the route progresses, NFM gives its customers an updated estimated time of arrival — accurate to within 25 minutes — through its website. e real-time visibility is possible through an integration between Appian and TMW's D2Link app on drivers' handheld devices. In the home furniture delivery market, giving customers re- al-time visibility of arrival status creates a competitive advantage, says Josh Parrish, NFM's delivery operations assistant manager. "ere are not many out there set up like ours," Parrish says. Real-time visibility e final mile is challenged by consumer expectations, par- ticularly with online purchases. XPO uses soware to capture electronic proof of delivery, item-level scanning, online images and immediate consumer feedback through opt-in surveys. "Consumers expect speed and visibility in the delivery process, and a range of delivery options and costs," Hitt says. "We know very quickly whether a consumer is unhappy with a delivery and can move to rectify it." XPO's information systems manage real-time workflow and the consumer experience. Retailers can use its portal to pull daily performance reports and review quality scores for XPO's last-mile independent contractors. "Our platform provides critical tools and shipment visibility to all parties — the retailer, delivery contractor, our operations team and the consumer," Hitt says. Dreams, a United Kingdom-based bed retailer, uses its own 130-vehicle fleet to make about 500,000 home deliveries annu- ally for mattresses and bed sets purchased online or in its stores. To maximize delivery efficiency, Dreams uses Paragon's route scheduling and planning soware system. Paragon operates in many countries and has a U.S.-based sales and support office in Frisco, Texas. Within the next 12 to 18 months, Dreams plans to implement additional Paragon capabilities that will allow customers to choose a delivery time window at the time of purchase. "It will become part of the schedule there and then," says Brian McCar- thy, logistics director for Dreams. Dreams also is implementing a live track-and-trace feature to give its customers the ability to view their orders online as the delivery route progresses. Commercial and private fleets continue to lever- age technology to be more efficient and responsive to customers. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the fast-moving world of e-commerce. Company executives say 'The Dayton Difference' is all about going the extra mile for customers and for others. Little Rock, Ark.-based Ca- lArk's final-mile white-glove service uses straight trucks and Sprinter vans to deliver large household goods.