Reports: The final piece of the outsourcing equation

One key to effective outsourcing isn't the technician -- it's the data. Photo: PacLease

One concern fleets have when considering outsourcing their maintenance and repair is that they will lose control over that portion of their operation. One way to ensure that does not happen is to set guidelines with the outsourced service provider covering the type of reports you receive during and following all outsourced service events.

Each fleet will have its own idea of the reports it wants. Michael Riemer, vice president product and channel marketing at Decisiv Inc., a service relationship management solutions provider, suggest that “metrics for success around service provider performance should be defined up front and [service providers] should commit to delivering reports on a defined basis (daily, weekly, monthly, on-demand, etc.)

Depending on how the fleet measures success, Riemer says reports might include:

Downtime — This can be based on the reason for the repair, complaint, make, model, year, etc. “Defining downtime as part of the upfront process [between the fleet and the service provider] is critical,” he says.

Estimated time of repair vs. actual time of repair

Approved estimate vs. invoice variances — If a standard process of estimate approval is followed, this number should be close to zero dollars.

Total costs and frequency of repair — This is based on reason for repair, complaint, make, model, year, engine, etc.

Comebacks — how frequently after a repair is there a similar issue?

Breakdowns between PMs — If a fleet is outsourcing all repairs, this is a good measure of the health of the maintenance and repair process.

Process compliance — Is the service provider sharing the data elements the fleet has asked for and providing the communications and follow-ups as prescribed?

Shane Gilliam, vice president of sales at Noregon, manufacturer of commercial vehicle diagnostic, repair, and data analytic solutions, says, “Service providers should ...Read the rest of this story

Haldex Launches Online Drum-vs.-Disc Brake Calculator

Haldex's new online calculator allows the fleet to input a number of factors to determine which type of brake is best for its application.

Photo: Haldex

Fleets considering switching from drum to air disc brakes have a new tool at their disposal to help them make a decision. Haldex's new Air Disc Brake Savings Calculator is designed to help fleets determine the long-term savings of air disc brakes compared to drum brakes over the life of the vehicle (tractor or trailer).

The web-based calculator was developed to allow fleets to input customized data to determine their “life of the vehicle” savings by comparing the overall cost of ownership. The calculator allows the fleet to input actual labor cost per hour, material cost (for both truck and trailer), annual mileage, replacement cycle (number of years), number of units, vehicle downtime and more. Not only does the calculator determine direct cost, it also determines total cost over the life of the tractor/trailer and total cost savings.

Fleets can customize the data to their specifications to determine actual tractor or trailer payback at: www.haldex-disc-brake-calculator.appspot.com.

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Next Trucking Announces New App, Online Fright Shipping Platform

NEXT Trucking bills itself as a“unique” trucking marketplace which allows truckers to sell their services by posting the routes they want to drive at the pay they want to earn.

Photo: NEXT Trucking

Next Trucking has announced its new mobile app and online on-demand freight shipping platform, designed to streamline international shipping logistics demands.

The trucking marketplace allows truckers to sell their services by posting the routes they want to drive at the pay they want to earn. A mobile app and online portal then allows shippers to hire the trucker that best matches their needs, giving both full transparency in the transaction. As a result, Next Trucking says, shippers get a competitive price and fast delivery, while its proprietary rating system holds truckers accountable for their service, ensuring that shippers get the best services that carriers have to offer.

Next Trucking says CargoPM, one of China's leading international logistics services providers, now exclusively uses its over-the-road online trucking application to book loads on lanes to distribution centers. "Our partnership with CargoPM and leading ecommerce fulfillment companies will help shippers and distributors save on their freight forwarding efforts," said Lidia Yan, CEO of Next Trucking. "We are also very excited for our elite team of independent drivers on the Next Trucking app to have more loads to choose from with our proprietary Book It! function."

The new program process starts with CargoPM shipping to Los Angeles area ports; Next Trucking then moves the freight to partner warehouses that provide a host of services, including:

"Partnering with Next Trucking is a big leap forward for the cross-border ecommerce industry," said Ken Chen, founding partner of CargoPM. "We are China's leading international logistics platform, and this partnership with Next Trucking gives us an unparalleled advantage over rivals in the foreseeable future."

Related: ...Read the rest of this story

New President Names for RoadRunner Freight

Roadrunner Transportation Systems has promoted Frank Hurst to President of Roadrunner Freight, the company's asset-light less-than-truckload business. Former Roadrunner Freight President Grant Crawford is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities, according to the announcement.

Hurst joined the Downers Grove, Illinois-based company in January as senior vice president of sales & marketing for Roadrunner Freight, after having served for three years as vice president / general manager for North America Corp., a distributor of facilities, packaging and marketing supplies.

His career includes 21 years in the transportation industry, including 16 years of increasing responsibilities at FedEx Freight and as executive vice president at LTL carrier Vitran Express.

Roadrunner CEO Curt Stoelting said Hurst “has great LTL operational and sales management experience and will bring a new energy to Roadrunner Freight,” noting that this is “another step in building the long-term management team across all of Roadrunner.”

Related: Q&A with Grant Crawford on Being the Economy LTL Provider

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May Trailer Orders Show Sixth Year Over Year Gain

May trailer orders were better than expected, according to preliminary estimates from ACT Research.

ACT's estimate of 17,850 units represents the sixth straight positive year over year comparision and is up 27% over a year ago.

“Net orders were off approximately 14% month over month [from April], but that was actually better than expected, since historic order patterns call for decline in excess of 20% in May,” said Frank Maly, ACT's director of CV Transportation Analysis and Research. “The major May story is the continuation of the 2016/17 order season momentum. After a very slow start last fall, orders have been up year over year every month since December, with both April and May posting y/y gains of 25% or better.”

Preliminary information shows that dry vans were the major contributor to the solid May performance. Dry vans, while off month-over-month as history projects, were up almost 50% versus last year, Maly said. "Flatbeds, dumps, and tanks also posted solid y/y results last month.”

Final May volume will be available later this month. ACT says its methodology allows it to generate a preliminary estimate of the market that should be within +/- 3% of the final order tally.

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Cummins Makes Big Electrification Move

In the long term, Cummins officials say electrification will come to every market segment it serves today in one form or another. Photo: Cummins

Cummins announced that it will have a fully developed, all-electric powertrain available and on the road for customers in 2019, with a range-extended electric vehicle coming in 2020. The company made the announcement during a conference call Wednesday evening.

Tom Linebarger, Cummins chairman and CEO, noted in opening remarks that the transportation industry is at “critical juncture” today. “We understand that electrification is coming and that the world is changing,” Linebarger said. “Regulations and a technological point of view are driving these changes, and we think that means opportunity. Cummins is a power technology company. We will continue to innovate with new technology and look for ways to disrupt ourselves, instead of having our competitors disrupt us. We will bring the right technology to markets – not just trucking -- that will help our customers win while being a leader provider of those products in the future.”

Julie Furber, executive director of Cummins' electrification business, said the company will leverage its knowledge and capability to offer entirely new powertrain solutions in the future for commercial and industrial markets. This initiative will begin next year with the introduction of a fully electric transit powertrain, closely followed by an extended-range electric vehicle in 2020.

In an email to investors, financial advisory firm Stifel noted, "To us, that's a big deal as it demonstrates the company is further along than was previously known in addressing what is likely its single biggest long-term risk: that electric will replace diesel as the dominant fuel source for commercial vehicle powertrains."

“At Cummins, we think we know things about electrification our competitors do not,” Furber said. “In the short term, we believe electrification will come to transit bus, ...Read the rest of this story

Q&A: Swift’s New Driver Engagement VP

Scott Barker has moved from vice president of safety, driver recruiting, and driver development at Swift to a new post dedicated to driver engagement. Photo: Swift

Swift Transportation recently created a new position – vice president of driver engagement – and named Scott Barker to the role. With nearly 40 years of experience ranging from spotting yard tractors and being a UPS delivery driver to safety, training and development, Barker is practically giddy about the chance to really make a difference for Swift's 20,000 drivers.

HDT talked to Barker about the new role. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

HDT: What led to the creation of this new role?

Barker: We have been talking about this for about a year, and in that process we just believe that we needed somebody whose sole focus was on the driver, and the relationship of the driver with the driver support team. It was important to us that we build that position and fill it with somebody who had a relationship with a lot of the drivers already and could either learn or already know about how the driver support teams work.

HDT: So how DO driver support teams work? What is that?

Barker: [Swift founder] Jerry Moyes used to say there are really only two types of people at swift — drivers and those who support drivers. So by definition our driver support teams are all the back office employees, the functions in the shops, and anybody whose job is to help support drivers, whether it's driver payroll or driver training or driver recruiting teams or HR, any of the teams that do not actually drive the truck are by definition driver support.

HDT: So that's a lot of people. How many drivers does Swift have?

Barker: We have around 20,000 drivers.

HDT: How do ...Read the rest of this story