Telematics at work: One fleet's success story

FleetOwner Magazine
Oct 1, 2009 12:00 PM, BY WENDY LEAVITT AND JIM MELE

Central Freight Lines' LTL operation keeps some 700 drivers busy moving freight for customers in the Midwest, Southwest and Northwest through the company's more than 50 terminals. Consolidating mostly time-sensitive loads from multiple shippers and then routing them efficiently day in and day out is a huge and complex task, so in 2008 Central Freight Lines made the decision to use digital communications technology to bring timely, actionable information into its dispatch management processes.

The company chose to work with Cheetah Software Systems Inc., and they dubbed the project the Digital Dispatch Management System, or DDMS. The first pilot began in October 2008 and by May 2009 the organization-wide rollout was complete. Basically, the Cheetah system utilizes drivers' delivery manifest data, pickup requests, digital maps and a dynamic routing algorithm to provide dispatchers with the precise information they need to make critical decisions.

The Cheetah DDMS determines projected delivery times, provides real-time driver location and status, suggests optimal pick-up driver assignments and reports dynamically on estimated pick-up times. It will also proactively display alarms when drivers are delayed or when service windows are in jeopardy. “What is unique about Cheetah is that it was specifically developed for pickup and delivery,” says Mark Stein, director-operations services for Central Freight Lines. “It follows our processes. We send our data to a Cheetah server; they put it into their environment and then we all tap into it with various applications.”

According to Stein, the investment in the new system was an investment in the company's future, but it is already delivering significant benefits only months after its implementation. “We are already seeing gains in productivity and reduced fuel costs,” he notes. “For example, in the past we put out the same number of drivers every day. Now we can manipulate and balance the number of drivers assigned to various routes; maybe we need 50 drivers one day, 42 the next and 48 the next. The system will actually make suggestions and tell you the cost of going from the first-choice scenario, to the second, to the third.

“Drivers used to go out with manifests and then fill them in as they went along,” Stein says. “Then the information was entered into the system at night when they got back. Now, within about 40 seconds after a load is picked up, a PRO number has been assigned and tracking begins. We also have a lot of data about the specific attributes of a load, such as weight and cube.

“This lets us do outbound load planning while the truck is still en route,” he continues. “That process, if it happened at all, used to happen right on the dock at the terminal. This tool is like having a crystal ball for what you need that night for the line-haul operation.”

Stein says that the system is also helping them build stronger bonds with customers and to vary charges as appropriate. “Everyone wants lower costs,” he notes. “With DDMS, we don't have to charge every customer the same price per stop. GPS data shows us what actually happened at each stop: when the driver arrived, began unloading, finished unloading and departed. This allows us to point out where actual times and costs are to each customer and to look for efficiencies together. Customers can also use the system to track their freight.”

“The more information you have, the better decisions you can make,” observes Don Orr, president of Central Freight Lines. “You have to take the numbers and aggregate them, however, to tell the ‘stories’ that will let you do things better than you did before.”

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