At the start of the month, I presented the Maximizing Margins webinar with Cargo Transporters Chairman John Pope. The webinar was an informative ‘coffee and conversation’ learning session that emphasized how Omnitracs and SkyBitz are working together with trailer and asset tracking solutions that help companies of all sizes. Long-time Omnitracs customer Cargo Transporters is a truckload, dry van carrier operation with more than 1,700 trailers. The company is not only a leader in the Omnitracs customer community but in the trucking community as well.
Here are a few pertinent takeaways from the webinar you can utilize for the benefit of your fleet operation:
The right solution brings in multi-faceted security benefits
While outright vehicle theft has never been a problem for Cargo Transporters — something John expressed they were very grateful for — the company did have an issue with unauthorized use of their vehicles. When working with shipping facilities with larger locations and multiple carriers coming in, the facilities would sometimes load the company’s trailers up and assign them to other carriers. When they began utilizing enhanced trailer and asset tracking, they discovered they had a much easier time of tracking those mix-ups down.
In addition to leveraging this benefit for your business, you can also rest much more comfortably knowing you have visibility into your trailers. So, even if you do encounter cargo theft, you have a secret visibility weapon into the location of your cargo. Connecting this benefit back to your margins, up-to-the-minute trailer visibility can reduce a substantial amount of time — which almost always equates to profit — previously spent searching for lost cargo.
Robust tracking doesn’t begin and end with security
When Cargo Transporters first began installing spireon trailer tracking solutions into their fleet, their first focus was on secure location tracking. They were pleasantly surprised when they found that, in addition to the enhanced security benefits, they were able to also obtain operational value from the data the solution was able to feed into their enterprise system surrounding the status of their loads.
Before this, they had to rely on customers to relay information on their loads and which trailers were and weren’t available. With this data insight, Cargo Transporters can proactively stay on top of their operation with near real-time updates into their cargo status so they can always know where trailer availability stands and leverage that planning ability for the maximum benefit of their business. Moving in the same direction for your business can not only help you reduce driver time searching for empties, but it can also help you deliver on customer promises and add value so they stay with you for the long haul.
While visibility is for the back office, efficiency is for the driver
Misplaced cargo and limited asset visibility can create headaches for your back-office team, but it is ultimately drivers who bear the burden of these issues. Without proper insight into asset-location status, drivers can waste an entire trip transporting the wrong shipment or trailer.
Improving the process with efficient monitoring can greatly help drivers understand what trailers they’re connecting to. If these pieces function in the right order, your back office can quickly connect with drivers who are getting ready to start their trips with the wrong trailers. Happier drivers often equate to lower turnover rates, which can all result in terrific ROI for your business.
Tune in to the full webinar to learn more about how you can maximize your business margins with enhanced trailer and asset tracking for long-term success.