Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/949884
62 commercial carrier journal | march 2018 Fleets retooling technology to meet expectations BY AARON HUFF T ransportation companies of all types are impacted by e-com- merce, whether or not their operations directly intersect the hot business-to-consumer market. Research firm Forrester projects that 17 percent of all U.S. retail sales will move online by 2022 — a significant jump from the roughly 12.7 percent of retail sales that flowed through e-commerce channels in 2017. One area where those impacts are being felt the strongest is the expecta- tions that customers have for the deliv- ery experience. e "Amazon effect" on motor carriers is the mounting pres- sure to meet the delivery expectations of customers. ese expectations are set by Amazon, which is not only the largest e-retailer but also continues to evolve as a full-blown logistics compa- ny with its own fleet of planes, trailers and delivery vehicles. More than 64 percent of U.S. households now are Amazon Prime members who are accustomed to free shipping on their orders with delivery of two days – and in some locations within two hours – aer online check- out. Whether motor carriers work for Amazon or its competitors, they face pressure to rethink and retool their offerings to deliver a satisfactory deliv- ery experience. Technology is helping carriers adapt to new challenges and opportunities in this fast-growing market. Shifting modes Relay operations have become more common for truckload and less- than-truckload carriers because of the growth in e-commerce and the enforcement of the electronic logging device rule, says Jerry Robertson, chief technology officer of Bolt System, an Internet-based fleet management and dispatch soware provider. Robertson has seen carriers that are Bolt customers increase their use of semi-trucks pulling double trailers. Carriers with ties to e-commerce use this strategy in some Western states that allow combinations of two 48-foot trailers, Robertson says. A driver is dispatched with double trailers to a drop yard near a city where domiciled drivers make final-mile deliv- eries. e driver who came inbound with the double trailers will return with two empty trailers to a distribution center. Some truckload carriers also are adding new cross-docking functionality Nebraska Furniture Mart uses the Appian Direct Route software from TMW Systems to optimize its daily delivery routes.