Technology was already a huge timesaver for trucking carriers. Then came the coronavirus. The outbreak created more market volatility and simultaneously forced trucking to operate in a different — socially distanced — manner. All of which makes trucking technology even more important.
How Nashville, Tennessee-based C&N Deliveries uses the technology solutions of Bloom Global offers a case in point.
C&N CEO and founder Nicole Clemons spoke with FreightWaves Director of Market Intelligence Zach Strickland in a “Technology in Action” talk during the FreightWaves Carrier Summit on Thursday.
Improving efficiency
C&N provides full truckload and less-than-truckload transportation services in the Nashville area. It has been using Bloom Global and the Blume CarrierGo app for the past year and a half.
CarrierGo “has been extremely helpful with reducing our paperwork and getting information on closeout times to our customers,” said Clemons. “It has helped improve our day-to-day efficiency of our operations. I would say it has [created a time savings] of about 20-25% compared to before we were using CarrierGo.
“It has had a big impact on us being able to accept and manage work orders we receive throughout the day,” she continued.
“It allows us to communicate with the drivers and let them know if something has been added or taken away. And if we can’t reach the drivers, they still have the ability to look at their device. The communication is still there through CarrierGo.”
The app’s reporting system is another plus for carriers. “The reports give us a great view — there’s daily, weekly and monthly views of what we have completed and what we have coming along, which is very helpful,” said Clemons.
Yet another advantage: The customers themselves appreciate the fast reporting time of the app, which helps C&N attract customers. “Just saying that I have Bloom has been a very big selling point to get more customers, because they know they will have the ability to get their information quickly,” she said.
Dealing with coronavirus
The system has paid off even more in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The time savings offered by the app is even more appreciated “during this time because everything is so fast-paced,” she explained.
It also helps with social distancing. “Everything is now about distance and standing in your own area. So, of course, it helps to have your own device and the information sent to you that helps you carry out what you need to follow during these hard times,” said Clemons.
Strickland emphasized the benefits of “really using technology and leaning on it” during the COVID-19 era. In a crisis when carriers must change protocols to socially distance, carriers that already had technology solutions in place before the outbreak — like C&N — had a head start.