"You have to have an IT manager," said Cynthia Normandin, vice president of Braun's Express, a 200-employee carrier based in New England. According to her, in an interview at the PeopleNet User's Conference this week, that is how trucking has changed in the past decade. "Technology has made the difference we can compete with the big guys."
Normandin, along with her husband David, president of the company, and her son Stephen, director of Strategic Initiatives (think IT manager) were among over 700 attendees representing 255 firms at this week's ninth annual PeopleNet User's Conference in Boca Raton, Fla. The conference focused on the expanding information technology needs of today's carriers and the PeopleNet products designed to meet them.
A Company Moving Forward
PeopleNet was recently acquired by Trimble Navigation, a provider of advanced positioning equipment. According to Brian McLaughlin, executive vice president and COO, the decision was a big move for the heretofore privately held company, but a necessary change.
"It was a natural progression," said McLaughlin. "We need to kick this into next gear, the next phase of our evolution."
PeopleNet currently has around 125,000 subscribers, and that was a big reason to seek a new home with a large, publicly traded firm like Trimble. According to McLaughlin, the company was beginning to approach maximum capacity and needed room and resources to expand. The acquisition, he said, will provide PeopleNet with room for growth-based strategy that will allow the company to scale up its offerings. Trimble, with its reach into more global markets, also provides a base for potential expansion beyond North America, although that may be some ways off.
PeopleNet Fleet Manager
The scalability McLaughlin mentioned is at the heart of the newest version of the PeopleNet Fleet Manager system, the core of the company's business. McLaughlin says the system is built to handle future data on millions of power units, an ambitious goal for the company.
The older version of PFM was mainly constructed in 1998, with growth potential built into the system expected to last about as long as it has. The new PFM represents a 100% overhaul of the system and took the company over two years complete. The most obvious change for users of the older system will be the updated interface. But the improvements are much deeper: users will be switching into an entirely new backend system equipped to handle new and different data, changing the user's experience.
Previously, fleet managers would receive reports with essential information about their vehicles, but were still left to sift through data. The new system is exception-based, meaning you get an alert when something is out of the ordinary. These alerts are a primary design tenet and cover a breadth of situations including engine faults, fuel discrepancies, speeding, critical events and off-route to name a few.
Another big change is how individuals in fleets are allowed to use the system. Access can now be tiered according to responsibility level. That means the top dog will be able to see every vehicle in the system, whereas a lower-level manager might have access to only one terminal. Also, roles can be assigned, giving different people different areas of privileges: administrators, dispatchers and safety managers will each be able to use only their specific tools. These roles are customizable.
Other changes include a new billing system, addition of one-minute breadcrumbs, support on Chrome and Firefox, a French version of the system with Spanish in development, and support of up to 10,000 units on an individual account.
Some things have stayed the same, however. PeopleNet will continue to offer expanded services through third-party providers routed through the system and onto PeopleNet hardware. Just this week the company announced support of several tire pressure monitoring systems as well as an expanded lane-departure warning network.
An attendee at one of the sessions noted there is one important feature missing: spellcheck. Driver spelling, he announced to groans and laughter, can at times be heinous.
The Tablet
PeopleNet's new Tablet was released earlier this year and has been getting lots of positive feedback from users. The device is essentially the same as Blu and Blu2, the company's cab-mounted computers, except it is removable, which allows the addition of several useful features.
First is signature capture. With the Tablet, drivers can have customers sign electronically, which streamlines billing by eliminating paperwork. After the driver fills out an electronic form at the drop-off point and gets a John Hancock, the system automatically transmits this data to the back office once the Tablet is returned its cradle. This means billing can be done in minutes.
The premium version of the Tablet features a barcode scanner (the only difference in the two versions). The scanner enables fleets to deliver the shipment tracking that many shippers are coming to demand.
Third is a camera. Presenters at PeopleNet admitted they were unsure exactly how fleets will use this feature, but that it seemed like a good idea. Two suggestions stand out, the first being damage control. Armed with the Tablet, the driver can snap a picture of any damaged cargo before it gets loaded onto his truck, and again when he drops it off. These pictures can be attached to electronic forms that go with the shipment. Should a claim arise, the carrier has proof the onus is on someone else.
The other use for the camera is in pre-, during- and post-trip inspections. If the truck is away from the terminal and a problem is discovered, the driver can send you a snapshot.
Physically, the Tablet is quite robust. It's large, has rubber bumpers, and the touch-screen seems like it can take a few direct hits. That's good news for fleets, as this unit will most likely take some serious punishment in the field. One complaint floating around: It is rather large. Some fleet managers worry that the slight bulkiness of the unit will impede the driver as he's climbing around on the truck.
Data Data Everywhere
"Data is almost more important than actually getting the shipment [there]," said Michael Lackey Jr., director of operations technology with Estes Express Lines.
Lackey, like Normandin, insists that staying competitive means both getting data and delivering data. According to Lackey, carriers need to streamline their processes to turn a profit in a low-margin universe, and they need to give shippers tracking information in order to obtain business.
Together, PeopleNet's new PFM and tablet deliver on both of those needs. But Lackey cautioned fleets against panaceas. According to him, staying competitive starts with a fleet's own processes, and ends with technology.
"If you are trying to automate an inefficient process with technology, it is only going to lose you money," he said.
