What to Look for in a Telematics Solution

We have all heard about the ELD mandate that’s coming and we pretty much are certain that this is going to happen. Are you still working with cell phones and trip itinerary sheets? Are you using a basic ELD and are looking to get a little bit more but are not sure where to start? Let’s take a look at a framework to help guide you.

First of all, what do you currently have – nothing, cell phones, a basic logging evict that maybe has some GPS capabilities? Are you currently on a contract? Finally, did you just expense the items or are they still on the books and depreciating each month? These are a few of the items that your Controller or CFO are going to look at as a baseline to see what sort of income statement impact this project is going to have on your organization.

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TCA Annual Convention – Recap #1

You could feel the energy at this year’s annual convention. Most carriers I spoke to (of all operating modes) are optimistic about business conditions for the remainder of 2017. The weight of last year’s challenges appear to have lifted. This was magnified by the buzz created by the strategic direction outlined by TCA President John Lyboldt. (more…)

When Status Quo is ‘Ok’ in Business

It’s not OK! Now that we’ve cleared that up, go watch this video:

Managing People Effectively by Ray Haight

I had an epiphany about 10 years ago when I, along with the other members of the senior executive of the company I was working with, took a training course titled “Management by Responsibility”. This eight-week course opened my eyes to both human behaviour and my own behaviour to the point that it literally changed the way I look at the world. I know that the other managers enjoyed the course but I don’t think any of them were affected to the extent that I was by the material. (more…)

Scorecarding Drivers – Leveraging Your Telemetrics Investment

Many of us have invested in in-cab satellite or cellular based devices that give us critical features like GPS positioning, two-way messaging, act as an EOBR, and possibly provide in-cab scanning and printing. These provide mission critical (or regulatory) functions, but are you taking advantage of the data that many of these devices can give you? (more…)

Katz, Sapper & Miller and inGauge Work Together to Promote Benchmarking

The relevance of performance benchmarking in any industry is strongly correlated to the size and diversity of the reporting population. Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM) has been conducting an annual trucking industry benchmarking survey in conjunction with McLeod Software since 2014. The scope of this survey has grown consistently since its introduction, with the most recent study covering more than 200 data elements obtained from survey questionnaires and McLeod’s LoadMaster Enterprise software. (more…)

Hydrogen Fuel Cells – Could they help break your diesel fuel habit?

Diesel fuel has been our industry’s main power source for years. We love the power it provides while hating its price and the relatively poor mileage we get. There’s a never ending line of additional emissions regulations that mean additional and costly technologies that are required to meet those regulations. Wouldn’t it be great to break that diesel habit and find something else, preferably something that gets around those requirements? (more…)

Inspect What You Expect: The Evolution of Benchmarking

 

After spending 30 years in Dealer Twenty Groups, and now facilitating TCA’s Best Practice Groups (the only formal benchmarking program in the Truckload segment), I believe it is time for an evolution, if not a revolution, in the use of technology and business intelligence. (more…)

New Maintenance Metrics for inGauge

Based on careful review with a select group of BPG users, we have narrowed down our new list of Maintenance-related metrics from 72 to 34. Some of these metrics will be driven from existing data points which we currently track, but many of them will be driven new (more granular) data points which will be added to the data template starting next week. (more…)

RADAR, LIDAR and beyond……

To start the New Year, we wanted to take a look at some new and upcoming technologies that will eventually benefit all of us. We have all seen reports of driverless transports as a way of the future but how does that technology affect us today? The reality is that autonomous vehicles will eventually arrive but it will be at least 10 years before they are truly driverless. A recent incidents with Tesla’s auto drive system as well as the Google car being involved in a crash have put a bit of a reality check on some of the autonomous vehicle boosters. We see this as part of the future but it’s also not going to be a quick as some would like. (more…)