“Capacity is not the constraining force for carriers, brokers and shippers,” says Glynn Spangenberg, general manager and executive vice president of MacroPoint, creators of freight tracking software designed to give third party visibility into load status. “The real governor on asset utilization, today, is driver availability, driven by a shortage of accessible drivers and new mandates such as hours-of-service regulations.
“There is definitely a need to improve dedicated capacity or find alternatives to ensure vehicle and driver availability,” Spangenberg continues. “Brokers, shippers and carriers that are able to make better decisions faster, day in and day out, can take advantage of opportunities that the market is offering. With accurate, actionable information and access to those drivers, those companies can benefit from economic growth.”
From an economic perspective, Spangenberg notes, the shipping community is responding to GDP growth and commodities needs. “That puts transportation companies in a good position to boost profitability,” he states. “What’s different, today, is the introduction of efficiencies in capacity planning processes that help anticipate and better manage seasonal needs and volume increases, and smooth out the entire supply chain.”
Trusted load status information is at the heart of the MacroPoint solution for brokers, carriers, shippers and 3PLs. Activated from a driver’s mobile phone or existing in-vehicle tracking device, MacroPoint’s patented location tracking software gives third parties load status and location visibility on their shipments. This is the same real-time location tracking, on-time delivery monitoring, and arrival and departure notifications that GPS-enabled carriers have been utilizing for over two decades.
In addition to eliminating the need to check in with carriers to receive load status reports, integration with a wide range of transportation management systems (TMS) automates the entire process for MacroPoint enabled companies and their customers.
Automating updates
The logistics and brokerage division of the nation’s fifth largest truckload carrier company, U.S. Xpress Logistics, chose MacroPoint to deliver automated location updates, regardless of the carrier’s phone or in-cab tracking technology.
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