Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/936627
46 commercial carrier journal | february 2018 Unique features of the Load One app include real-time weather and tra c and a single sign-on to the company's driver training and rewards web portal. e stand-out feature – and the potential game-changer for drivers – is a mapping tool that provides Load One drivers with historical and real-time information on demand and capacity. With a few clicks and swipes, Load One drivers can determine where to optimally position themselves. With this newfound business intelli- gence, drivers can reduce wait times and increase productivity and earnings. Planning ahead Downey was handpicked to participate in testing Load One's driver app before it was released to the eet. On Jan. 9, before he had arrived in Norfolk, Downey used the app to decide where he would go a er making the delivery. He used the mapping tool to see every shipment that Load One moved, brokered or turned down in the Norfolk area in the last two days, seven days and 30 days. Green pins on the map show locations of loads moved by Load One. Red pins represent missed opportunities — ship- ments that Load One brokered or turned down because a truck was not available. Dark blue pins show current locations of other Load One trucks. Drivers can limit their view to loads and trucks that match their equipment type. Downey has a tandem-axle 24-foot straight truck with a 22,000-pound load capacity. " at unique- ness alone narrows the eld to promote pro- ductivity," he says. "I see exactly what I need to see." Without this market intelligence, Downey would have gone to a truck stop 20 miles from Norfolk to wait. With the app, he saw this plan would have decreased his odds of getting a load. Instead, he planned to go 100 miles northeast to the Maryland border. At this strategic location, he would be available for loads in three areas where freight had been "popping," he says. He felt con dent that a call would come from dispatch before 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10. e workweek for Load One, or rather its payroll cuto , ends on Monday. Downey believed he would pick up his next load on Wednesday a ernoon or ursday morning to deliver Friday or Saturday, which could give him time to complete another load by Monday. Downey predicts the app will help him increase his number of loads and revenue by 10 percent or more in 2018. Tying it together e demand and capacity information for the mapping tool comes from several databases. Load One developed its own consolidated "bid board" of time-sen- sitive shipments from private websites used by 3PLs and shippers in the auto- motive business. e bid board database has rate and capacity information that Load One dispatchers use to determine which loads to accept or turn down. Data from the bid board is displayed on the mapping tool in the driver app as red pins to show where Load One has missed opportunities due to not having trucks available. Load One also has a database of truck locations from carriers using the Sylectus TMS so ware and its protected load board. e locations of trucks are displayed on the mapping tool alongside booked and loads/bids missed by Load One to help drivers locate a good spot, Elliott says. e database of trucks from Sylectus users and Load One drivers is displayed live in the mapping tool. A driver that is 75 miles away from Memphis, Tenn., might see the market is red-hot based on the number of loads on the map. With the capacity icons, the driver may see that seven Load One trucks already are positioned there and decide to move 25 miles southwest of Nashville, where they will be number three in line for dispatch. Drivers also can view freight patterns by day of week by viewing loads over the last 30 days, seven days and two days. Before developing the app, "there was no way to tie all that together," Elliott says. "Now these guys can map it." An instant hit With the electro nic logging device man- date in e ect, drivers appreciate technol- ogy that helps them maximize time and money, says Elliott. e technology also has customer service bene ts. As drivers reposition themselves to the best areas, Load One will be able to respond faster and better to their needs. And since Load One pays its company and owner-operator drivers a percentage of revenue for loads, "every time we win, (drivers) win." Another bene t is that dispatchers will spend less time answering questions from drivers about where to position or reposition equipment and be able to fo- cus on more important business. Drivers also can better manage their business and make decisions independently, which helps protect the contractor status. Since announcing the app to driv- ers, more than 70 percent were using it within a few weeks, says Elliott, who explains to drivers that being in the expedite business is similar to being in a casino: You never know when or where the next load will come from. "We are trying to build a system to help you count cards and increase your odds of legalized gambling," he says. CC J I N N O VATO R S pro les carriers and eets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking's challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact Je Crissey at jcrissey@ccjmagazine.com or 800-633-5953. The app's map- ping tool allows drivers to limit their view to loads and trucks that match their equip- ment type.