Shandex Truck Inc. Converts to PeopleNet's Onboard Computing System
Canadian Carrier Embraces Automated Messaging to Boost Efficiency
MINNEAPOLIS - September 26, 2005 - PeopleNet, the leading provider of onboard computing and mobile communications systems to the nation's transportation industry, today announced that Shandex, the leading Canadian Distributor of store brand packaged goods, has equipped its fleet with PeopleNet's tracking and mobile communications system.
"Through our commitment to service, and our proven business model, we provide cost effective account management and consolidated logistic solutions to the retail market for manufacturers worldwide," says Bill Shannon, manager. "PeopleNet provides the tools to eliminate the unnecessary costs involved in getting products from more than 700 active customers (including Mead Westvaco, Tyco Healthcare and Kimberly-Clark) to our retail locations.
That's not an easy task given the fact that the Shandex fleet, comprised of 38 units and 64 trailers, crosses the U.S./Canadian border 30 times a day with each unit racking up 120,000 miles annually. The fleet is set up to haul 850 SKUs, on purchase orders that included several products from multiple manufacturers. Offering a 3-7 day lead time, the mobile technology was essential for Shandex's ability to offer streamlined replenishment to its retail customer base.
"The decision to go with PeopleNet was a relatively easy one," Shannon explains. "We needed the ability to pinpoint the locations of our drivers and to be able to communicate electronically with them. Our previous supplier was unable to stand behind its promises. As our first satellite experience was not a positive one, we wanted a very stable company - one with a history of innovation, one with the all features we wanted and one that would grow with us."
"To maintain our competitiveness, we have to automate as many of our processes as possible," says Shannon. "We offer our customers access to our system so they can track their own loads, which ultimately brings them peace of mind knowing exactly where their shipments are. More importantly, our dispatchers can access our units from any location and send them messages from the PDA's or from home. That means the driver is not stuck on the side of road somewhere."
For Shandex, the automated messaging has led to a dramatic improvement in the accuracy of its dispatch information and a lessening of cell phone usage. "We now have the confidence that drivers are receiving all the information to complete their runs in a safe and efficient manner," he says. "Plus, PeopleNet frees up our dispatchers to do their jobs by providing better customer service and responding only to problems." In fact, PeopleNet has eliminated the need for Shannon to hire two additional dispatchers.
The next step in making pick-up and delivery times more efficient is to take needless reporting out of the drivers' hands. "We are already running 70 percent paperless," says Shannon, "and we want to see that percentage continue to increase. We want to be in a position to manage by exception."
As a result, he has begun integrating PeopleNet's PACOSTM Automated Messaging and Exception Management tool with Freight Logix, Shannon's dispatching software provider. By placing a geofence around shipper and receiver locations, automatic messages can be triggered.
Prior to PeopleNet, the driver had to call in and report the change in status. Now using PACOS, the status updates will make it easier for drivers to keep their status current. Plus it automatically notifies the shipper or the receiver - eliminating the driver check-in calls. That automatic notification will help us reduce waiting time and enforce detention time and other accessorial charges."
The PeopleNet system has become the standard for GPS-based location tracking, two-way voice and data communications, electronic driver logs, and Internet-based fleet business tools to provide consistent, reliable communication between business owners, dispatchers, drivers and shippers.
Shannon also has realized tangible benefits from PeopleNet's PerformX® feature, which monitors operating performance in real time. "By tracking sudden stops, speeding and idling - combined with more accurate routing - we have begun to develop more efficient operating standards. Our drivers have become very competitive and we have seen our fuel economy improve by 0.5 mpg," says Shannon. "This improvement goes right to the driver as we pay by the hub mile."
Headquartered in Minneapolis, PeopleNet is the fastest-growing provider of Internet-based onboard computing and mobile communications systems to the transportation industry, including truckload, LTL, private, and service fleets. The company serves several Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and Canada and has signed more than 1,000 customers since our inception 10 years ago.
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For more information, contact: Brian McLaughlin, (888) 346-3486 ext. 211
bmclaughlin@peoplenetonline.com
