Dispatcher's Delight: A Cookie-Crumb Map
Carrier turns To UPS Logistics Technologies for mapping capability.
John Bendel
Technology Editor
LTL carrier New England Motor Freight says it integrates its proprietary operations system with at least one important piece of purchased mapping and routing technology to keep operations running smoothly.
The company, which is known as NEMF, operates 4,000 pieces of equipment from 30 terminals in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states, as well as Florida, Puerto Rico, Ontario and Quebec.
NEMF local dispatchers look at split screens on their desktop monitors. On one side they see the company's dispatch data screen. "They're looking at our legacy applications that drive the pickup system and our local delivery system, our trip-assignment, pickup assignment system," said Ken Ditmars, NEMF vice president, information technology.
On the other side of the dispatch screen is a geographic display.
"(The dispatcher) has a map of the geographic location with all the drivers on their trips. He's able to look and see what the planned route is based on, what's been downloaded and where they currently are. It's in a cookie crumb trail. It's updated real time because GPS is polled every couple of minutes."
The information on that side of the screen comes from MobileCast, a delivery management application from UPS Logistics Technologies that uses rugged handheld computers, wireless data networks and GPS to provide necessary information at both the truck and dispatch end of the operation.
Most important, at the dispatch end of the system, MobileCast provides dispatchers with a clear visual representation of local operations in real time. Dispatchers can scroll though maps and zoom from an overview to street level. The system can offer estimated drive time from Point A to Point B.
According to Ditmars, New England Motor Freight uses a static route guide for deliveries and pickups. That is, stops are assigned to trucks based on the specific area that truck services - at least to a point.
"But we don't automatically look to assign a pickup based entirely on the static area," Ditmars explained. "We use the maps that we get from the MobileCast system to identify what drivers are in the most strategic area to do pickups."
MobileCast's clear, precise map display allows New England Motor Freight to take advantage of probably the most valuable dynamic routing tools there are: the talent and knowledge of their own dispatchers. The static routing guide places pickups in general areas; dispatchers work out the last mile of the dispatch process.
On the truck side of the MobileCast system, the driver uses his handheld computer as what UPS Logistics Technologies calls an "electronic manifest." The rugged handheld, manufactured by Intermec, captures arrival, departure and delivery service times. The handheld includes GPS; they don't need to be installed in the trucks, though easily mounted cradles can keep the units within easy reach and fully charged.
According to Ditmars, NEMF has been slowly deploying MobileCast for the past three years. So far, 700 trucks and 11 terminals are outfitted with MobileCast, a deployment Ditmars said is about 70% completed.
"I think in about 14 more months it should be fully deployed," he said.
New England Motor Freight, based in the vast warehouse and port district of Elizabeth, N.J., claims to be the region's fastest-growing family-owned LTL carrier.
Qualcomm, Terion, GeoLogic Announce Trailer Tracking Enhancements
Qualcomm has already announced an upgrade to the product it introduced only five months ago. Qualcomm unveiled its T2 Untethered TrailerTRACS asset management solution at the annual ATA conference in October. As had been expected, T2 works over the Sprint wireless network, which licenses CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology from Qualcomm.
Sprint's digital service footprint has grown substantially in recent years but still does not have the reach of analog cellular, which was built under regulatory protection during the 1980s and still extends into far-flung parts of the country. Last month, Qualcomm added that analog coverage to T2's service footprint. The company announced it is building Aeris' MicroBurst short data packet messaging service into T2.
Aeris.net uses an available portion of the analog cellular control channel to send data in short bursts that are compatible with digital systems, including Sprint's CDMA. Short-burst data transmission is an appropriate technology for trailer tracking, which normally provides location and status information in small data packages - or short bursts. MicroBurst complements CDMA and the combination provides an optimized solution for coverage, capacity and cost.
Meanwhile, Terion Inc., which added analog coverage to its Sprint footprint last June with the introduction of its new FleetView 3 system, has moved into the flatbed tracking market with FleetView 3F.
According to Terion the FleetView 3F onboard unit installs underneath the trailer bed, allowing installation when the trailer is loaded and never interfering with a load. Terion says FleetView 3F is designed to perform in harsh environments and supports critical functionality of FleetView 3, including dual-mode digital and analog service for the widest coverage.
Terion introduced FleetView 3R, a tracking system for temperature controlled trailers, in October.
Finally, GeoLogic Solutions, announced it would add a solar powered option to its TrailerMax asset monitoring system. TrailerMax Solar will contain all the current functionality of TrailerMax, but will be able to recharge its battery from sunlight as well as from the tractor power, the company said.
Battery life depends on the number of events or "messages" a trailer is transmitting. For example, if a trailer sends one message per day, average battery power on most tracking systems will last between 45 and 60 days before needing recharging. However, trailer sensors that provide information on cargo capacity, door open/closed status and trailer movement also use battery power, and if a battery dies on an untethered trailer, that trailer will be invisible on the company's tracking system.
According to GeoLogic, TrailerMax is a virtually maintenance-free product; sending one message per day, the system can last almost indefinitely without recharging from a tractor.
DRIVER LOGS ON CELLPHONES? IT COULD HAPPEN
We have dispatch programs, scanners and video games built into cellphones. Why not automated driver logs?
Wireless service provider Nextel Communications and Silicon Valley-based software company Xora Inc. have asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow a system to do just that. The companies have petitioned the FMCSA separately. Nextel is asking for a change in the rules. Xora is asking for an exemption.
Nextel's plea was delivered in response to the agency's call for comments on mandatory electronic on-board recorders. "Nextel asks that the FMCSA clear the way for wireless handset-based solutions for compliance with hours of service rules," the company said in its comments.
Xora, meanwhile, has asked for an exemption similar to that granted to truckload carrier Werner Enterprises, which developed its own automated log system. Werner's system keeps logs otherwise acceptable to regulators, but in a form that does not quite meet rules outlined in Section 395.15 of the FMCSA rules. The FMCSA has exempted Werner from those rules.
The Nextel-Xora system would require a GPS-equipped handset with enough computing power to run the application and would resemble Werner's system, at least in part. The Werner system sends log data over the truck's Qualcomm system to a central server, which processes the data. The server can send log pages back to the truck and display them on the driver console.
The Xora software, called Xora DOT Logs, would send some information back to a Xora server, but process and retain much critical data in the handset itself. That would allow the application to function even when out of transmission range, alerting the driver to potential violations, for example.
Like most handset-based applications, Xora automated logs over the Nextel system could deliver snappy functionality in an inexpensive package.
TECHNOLOGY AND INSURANCE COSTS: PART TWO
Last November, we wrote about Valen Technologies, a Colorado company that provides predictive modeling and decision software, algorithms that analyze thousands of interacting risk factors. Insurance underwriters use Valen applications to help set premiums.
Another company mentioned in the same article was Acculeon, a Silicon Valley tech company that has developed a new kind of "black box" for fleets. It's a flat, metal device - roughly the size of a CD player - connected to a GPS antenna. Unlike current onboard computers, the Acculeon device is not connected to the truck's built-in computers and isn't concerned with logistical data.
Rather, it is a free-standing device - including gyroscopic instruments - that accurately detects and records the vehicle's movements. Acculeon claims the device is far more accurate at detecting driver behavior - for instance, tail-gating - than any current onboard computer.
In interviews at the time, both companies referred to a third company, FleetRisk Advisors LLC, of Alpharetta, Ga., a risk-management and loss-control specialist in fleet operations, and said that their partnership could help fleets lower insurance costs.
But no insurance companies were publicly offering lower premiums for their customers, so it remained to be seen how insurance costs would figure into return on investment (ROI).
Then last month, FleetRisk introduced a product it calls TRAC, for Transportation Risk Analytics Center. According to the company, TRAC combines historical data about drivers, vehicles, routes, schedules, accidents and incidents, with daily operational data. A sophisticated suite of analytics, including pattern recognition algorithms, identifies what FleetRisk calls risk signatures. The company then helps fleets develop counter measures to minimize exposure to accidents.
Where the fleet operation calls for them, Acculeon devices can be a valuable part of the data FleetRisk analyzes. In every case, Valen's software comprises the sophisticated suite of analytics.
FleetRisk Advisors' CEO Sam Wilkes recently explained how insurance costs figure into ROI. According to Wilkes, it is less a matter of insurance premiums - though that remains a future possibility - than it is accident prevention and cash savings for fleets that are self insured. ROI is not necessarily on lower premiums, but in less cash paid out for self-insured claims. Many fleets are self insured up to a point, Wilkes said, and the fleets who can likely gain the most, most quickly from TRAC are carriers of hazardous materials.
As if to underline that, FleetRisk also announced that Dupre Transport LLC of Lafayette, La. has agreed to conduct a pilot project using FleetRisk's TRAC. Dupre Transport specializes in bulk liquid commodities, including hazardous materials. Dupre was among the winners in the Truckload Carriers Assn.'s National Fleet Safety Awards announced in January.
The results of that project could be very interesting.
