Stellar Trak Offers Logistics System That Learns

A startup called Stellar Trak, of Tracy, Calif., is marketing an logistics system built to get smarter as it’s used.

The product is called Stellar Trak FleetCommander (no relation to a sound-alike routing and optimization product from ALK Technologies). According to Stellar Trak president, Bill Gonsalez, the product is aimed at “LTL, regional metro transportation, anybody who deals in multiple deliveries every day returning to a same location.”
The system consists of a wireless GPS tracking unit that installs in a truck and software for the customer’s PC. Real time data will relay through Stellar Trak’s service center, where location and other information will be placed on a secure web page for the customer.
The customer software will route deliveries and optimize routes, much like other software does. Gonsalez says the difference is in the database that will accrue at Stellar Trak’s server, which will be used to further optimize customer operations over time.
While he used examples from home furniture delivery, Gonsalez said deliveries could be to businesses as well.
“We would build a database. We would know that an 8-foot sofa in a single story residence would only take 15 minutes to deliver,” he explained.
“If we started seeing there were certain drivers taking half-an-hour, 45 minutes, there's a problem. We're building a database we could use to start pinpointing the efficiencies of delivery.”
But that, he said, would be just scratching the surface.
Again referring to furniture delivery, Gonsalez said in-depth data eventually gathered will enable more tightly managed delivery windows, the likely delivery times provided to home delivery customers.
Gonsalez said Stellar Trak users could offer their retailer client, say Macy’s, a customer delivery window of two hours instead of four, providing a scheduling benefit for consumers and a service improvement for Macy’s. The system will also allow for retailer clients to view truck delivery progress on local maps just as the trucking company can, reducing calls for information from retail sales and service staff.
According to Gonsalez, Stellar Trak FleetCommander will cost a one-time software licensing fee of $300 to $400. Trucks will be equipped for from $500 to $800 per vehicle, depending on the size of the fleet and other consideratins. Ongoing service will run from $39.95 to $100 per truck per month depending on the range of services needed.
Communication to trucks can be over whatever ground-based carrier the customer chooses. Customers could also use whatever driver device they might want, say a handheld computer.