Industry: LTL

The Situation: Prior to implementing the Cheetah Freight™ system, Watkins used manual tracking techniques to plan and oversee its LTL operations. Radio transmissions and phone calls were heavily utilized by managers, dispatchers and drivers to ensure delivery, and inefficiencies were eating into their profits. Dispatch struggled to provide customers with accurate ETAs which were frequently inaccurate.

The Cheetah Solution: Watkins did extensive research on system enhancement and selected the Cheetah Freight logistics optimization and dispatch application in combination with Nextel’s digital cellular phones.

“Nextel and Cheetah have given us a low-cost solution with many benefits. The mobile phone costs much less than installing an onboard computer -- which may be thousands of dollars each. We have integrated these Nextel phones with our Cheetah software and other homegrown applications to create a highly efficient and cost effective real-time logistics and management system.

“Today’s customer wants to view the entire freight movement process from start to finish and know where their freight is at all times. Cheetah does that for us – as soon as the driver picks up or delivers freight, he keys that information into the Nextel® phone so it is available to us in real time.

“Unlike many incomplete systems that are out there, Cheetah incorporates real time routing. It provides an integrated customer workflow and logistics system that manages dispatch, delivery and customer service.”

— Steve Smith, Watkins’ VP of Performance Standards

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Watkins Motor Lines Improves Efficiency, Reduces Costs and Heightens Customer Satisfaction using the Cheetah Freight™ Real-Time Dispatch, Routing and Tracking System

Watkins Motor Lines, Inc., is one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers of general commodities. Its nationwide pickup and delivery (P&D) network encompasses 136 locations, over 2,400 tractors, 11,400 trailers, and a network of approximately 9,000 employees and contractors.

In recent years the LTL business has become highly competitive. “Margins are getting smaller, and people are looking around for alternate carriers who can do things cheaper,” said Tony Widener, terminal manager for a Watkins facility at Palm Beach, FL. “We have to figure out how to do things smarter and more efficiently.”

To gain an advantage over its competitors, the company realized that it needed help deciding what freight went on what trailer, how each trailer was loaded, how it was delivered and which routes were most cost-effective for their drivers. To address these issues, Watkins turned to Cheetah Software Systems, Inc.

The results were immediate. “Cheetah has given us a low-cost solution with many benefits,” said Steve Smith, Watkins’ VP of Performance Standards. “By integrating the Cheetah system with other homegrown applications, we are creating a highly efficient and cost effective real-time logistics and management system.”

Eliminating Manual Inefficiencies

Like all transportation companies, Watkins evolved manually driven processes over the years to plan its routes. As each truck contained multiple orders, planning staff would spend hours poring over the many possible routing options and delivery sequences. Unfortunately, the inefficiencies built into the old system meant that drivers sometimes ended up with trailers loaded in the wrong order. Drivers would have to drive extra miles, or spend time unloading the entire vehicle to fulfill orders.

“We used to have to spread out all the green copies of the shipping invoices, look at them, and create routes manually,” said Widener. “Pieces of freight would sometimes have to be handled three or four times, either at the dock or by the driver, increasing the chances of damage and adding time to the schedule.”

Keeping track of the exact status of every trailer and customer order also proved problematic. As information was not easily available, the company was forced to make heavy use of two-way radio. Messages would sometimes be misunderstood because of transmission interference and drivers would have to wait their turn while others spoke over the radio.

“Information would be unavailable to us until the freight was brought back to the terminal and a biller entered the billing information into the computer,” said Smith. “We would also have to wait until a driver radioed in or returned to the terminal to know what orders had been fulfilled.”

Critical freight planning and delivery information, therefore, was not to hand until the driver returned to the terminal. This often meant a four-to-six hour lag between the actual pickup and data entry. Thus Watkins found it difficult to provide customers with accurate ETAs.

“Today’s customer wants to view the entire process from start to finish and know where their freight is at all times,” said Smith. “Cheetah does that for us – as soon as the driver picks up or delivers freight, he keys that information into the Nextel phone so it is available to us in real time.”

Real-time Efficiency of the New System

Watkins’ combined Cheetah/Nextel solution consists of the following elements:

Cheetah Freight™ for real-time logistics optimization and dispatch application

Nextel’s 4-in-1 offering of digital cellular voice, Nextel Direct Connect® walkie-talkie, Nextel Online® wireless data and Two-Way text messaging provides drivers with Java™ technology-enabled mobile phones to rapidly enter information

Cheetah Freight is used in several distribution centers to manage the logistics of inbound and outbound shipments. It plans daily routes and schedules, monitors inventory, and determines where and when freight should be loaded onto trucks.

“Unlike many incomplete systems that are out there, Cheetah incorporates real time routing,” said Smith. “It provides an integrated customer workflow and logistics system that manages dispatch, delivery and customer service.”

To improve outbound planning, for example, the Cheetah solution allows Watkins supervisors and dockworkers to fully consider the cost components associated with the various transportation options and therefore determine the most cost-effective routes. That directly translates into fewer vehicle miles, faster delivery, and the optimization of truck space for shipments.

“Cheetah looks at every single zip code, street address, appointment time and freight characteristic in order to electronically build an optimized route,” said Widener. “That gives us the most efficient and cost effective means of getting freight delivered.”

From start to finish, Cheetah Freight provides Watkins with real-time visibility into driver routes. By monitoring what’s being delivered or picked up at any point in the process, the dispatcher is able to inform customers when something was delivered and at what time, or when they may expect their shipment. The overall result is significantly improved routing, customer service and stops-per-hour performance.

“The dispatcher can see where the driver is during the day and is able to easily determine which driver should be assigned a new or ‘on demand’ pick up based on their location,” said Smith.

This wouldn't be possible, however, without Watkins’ Nextel phones. Each driver operates a Nextel phone to electronically transmit and receive P&D information. Once a driver signs on to the phone, he immediately receives his route list stop by stop. The phone’s keypad is utilized to inform dispatch in real time when he arrives at or departs from a stop, what freight he picks up, what he delivered, and more. When customers call in for pickups, that information is automatically fed into Cheetah Freight, which executes driver selection based on current location and load. Information reaches the driver via the Nextel phone.

“Because the information is input at pickup, we will be able to unload the freight as soon as it arrives at the dock,” said Smith. “We will save innumerable hours because we no longer have to wait on the billing process.”

The system eliminates errors as information has moved from radio to phone. Messages are no longer misunderstood because of radio interference, and overall radio traffic is reduced to a tenth of its previous level.

Watkins also makes use of Nextel’s Nationwide Direct Connect™, coast-to-coast walkie-talkie feature. “Our drivers use Direct Connect as a back up system,” said Smith. “They are able to quickly connect with dispatch to instantly obtain correct addresses or directions.”

Immediate Return on Investment

As soon at Watkins implemented its Cheetah system it experienced immediate results. At those locations where the system has been implemented, the company has already seen a 5.2 percent reduction in miles per stop and a 7.8 percent increase in bills per trip.

Another benefit concerns what is known in the industry as “back stripping.” This basically means having to unload a truck to rearrange it in actual delivery order, a practice that was commonplace using manual processes. Drivers and dispatchers report that back stripping has become a rare event.

“Back stripping used to be an every day occurrence for drivers,” said Smith. “Overall, our drivers are more productive and they have less down time because they now have more deliveries to make.”