This tech talk was part of FreightWaves’ Enterprise Fleet Summit on Wednesday.
TECH TALK TOPIC: Using precision location data to make last-mile operations safer and more efficient.
DETAILS: Wisconsin-based Roehl Transport, a trucking company with more than 2,000 power units, worked with Trimble MAPS to allow precision last-mile operations. Trimble’s Khirika Jamison interviewed Roehl executive John Paape about the challenges the carrier’s drivers were facing and how the companies worked together to implement a navigation solution.
SPEAKERS: John Paape, chief information officer and vice president of technology for Roehl Transport, and Khirika Jamison, a strategic accounts manager at Trimble MAPS
BIOS: Paape has been with Roehl Transport since 2013. He spent 11 years at WPS Packing Group, including serving as director of corporate business systems. Jamison joined Trimble MAPS in 2010, focusing on the needs of customers in the transportation industry.
KEY QUTOES FROM PAAPE:
“It’s one thing to punch an address into the GPS system of your car. That’s a pretty nimble vehicle. If you do an around-the-block one time, it’s not that big of a deal. But when you’re dealing with a full semi, navigation becomes very challenging. And addresses are somewhat useful but the precision you really want to perform your work at is really not possible.”
“The stress of the job alone is great. Anything you can do to make that a better experience for the driver — a safer experience for the driver — we certainly want to do. When we designed this solution, we intentionally colored that last-mile segment differently so that it stood out. We noticed immediately upon launching this new capability that our drivers were inspecting the route before they left because they appreciated actually having that embedded in their route.”
“It’s been a really positive story, and we’ve seen improvement not just in a reduction in issues on those last-mile segments — that’s been a huge thing. But just driver satisfaction. [Drivers] are so much happier with the experience. I think what we’ve seen is that drivers have a higher level of trust and confidence in the company-provided navigation system.”
