pooler to the printing industry, supplying reusable plastic pallets to bulk
printers for delivering advertising
inserts to some 1,200 newspapers in
the United States and Canada. At the
same time, it operates a fleet of 30
trucks under the Perfect
Transportation banner.
The trucking division, which has
terminals in Indianapolis; Dickson,
Tenn.; and Chandler, Ariz.; operates
as a for-hire carrier across the United
States. But its primary job is to transport the pallets in the company’s
pool between bulk printing houses
and their customers, pick up empty
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pallets, and transport backhaul loads.
The need to keep tabs on pallets scattered throughout the continent led the
company to install a visibility system. “We
are not just a standard trucking firm, but
have our own assets that we want to keep
track of as well,” explains Amy Lathrop,
the company’s director of operations. “We
want to have technology to have visibility
at all times into our operations.”
At the heart of the tracking system is
the TMWSuite of enterprise transportation software, which Perfect Pallets adopted several years ago to run its trucking
business. The software, which was supplied by TMW Systems, is used in tandem
with PeopleNet Fleet Manager to provide
in-cab communications and vehicle
tracking so Perfect Transportation can
continuously monitor the location and
status of trucks and their loads.
The system is designed for ease of communication. Using touch screens in their
cabs, drivers can obtain the dispatch and
delivery data they need—whether it’s a
new assignment, customer information,
load data, sequenced directions, the number of units to deliver, or required documentation. The system, in turn, automatically transmits truck status updates to
dispatch every 10 minutes or when an
event triggers an update. Typical status
updates include the driver’s start time and
location, time of arrival at the pickup
location, actual quantity of goods loaded,
time of departure from the pickup site,
and time of arrival at the delivery site.
Clients can track the status of their
loads via TMW Systems’ online portal,
eStat. In addition to providing details on
shipments in transit, the system allows
them to call up information on previous
deliveries and view signed proof-of-delivery documents that have been scanned or
electronically captured.
“This replaces the old system, where
customers had to call for that information. Now, they can just pull it up on the
Web,” says Lathrop. “From a customer
perspective, it shows we provide them
with cutting-edge technology, while it
adds value to our daily processes. The
biggest compliments we hear are from our
customers who depend on this system
every day.” ;
