With technology always changing, says David Normandin, president of Braun’s Express, it’s important to keep up with new developments that can help improve operating efficiency and productivity. At the company that he and his wife, Vice President Cindy Normandin, own and operate, that is taking place in a number of ways. Fielding late-model equipment, restructuring maintenance programs and adopting technologies help achieve the carrier’s goals.
Braun’s specializes in LTL receiving, consolidation, shipping and delivery of carpeting and related flooring products. The carrier operates from five terminals, one at its headquarters in Hopedale, Mass. and others in Cranbury, N.J., Jessup, Md., Syracuse, N.Y., and Dalton, Ga. The company serves about 600 stores on set schedules and makes deliveries to customers that include hotels, office buildings, casinos, banks and other commercial enterprises. Braun’s also provides truckload service throughout the eastern U.S.
The Braun’s fleet consists of 85 Mack CXU sleeper-equipped and day cab tractors, as well as 26 Mack CXP straight trucks used in local operations. Its entire fleet of 185 trailers consists of 48- and 53-ft. Great Dane Classic and P-Series dry vans.
Enhancing efficiency
One new technology in place at Braun’s credited with enhancing efficiency is the PerformX driver and vehicle evaluation tool from PeopleNet. A user of PeopleNet mobile communications and tracking systems since 2006, Braun’s was introduced to PerformX last year during the supplier’s user’s conference and quickly moved to adopt the system.
PerformX monitors driver and vehicle performance by communicating with the engine’s data bus, notes Stephen Normandin, IT manager. “The information is automatically delivered to us through a series of customizable reports in the PeopleNet Fleet Manager program. We can then put that information to good use improving fuel efficiency, tractor reliability and utilization, and safety.”
As an example, Normandin points to the PerformX Management Report that compares the performance of single vehicles, groups or the entire fleet. “From MPG to engine, over-speed and idling times, we can find out which vehicles are our top performers,” he explains. “PerformX also has a Management Calculator to help us set, monitor and track goals for vehicles and calculate savings from increased fuel efficiency, decreased idling, and lower over-RPM and speeding.”
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Braun’s Express Tractor Specifications Model: Mack CXU613 |
Improving habits
PerformX is a key part of Braun’s MPG improvement program. “We use the information it provides when meeting with drivers to discuss their performance and ways to improve fuel-efficient driving habits and lower idling time,” Normandin reports. “PerformX also has an in-cab driver scorecard to help monitor and improve driving habits in real-time.
“We use the scorecard data to rank drivers by MPG performance and post the results,” Normandin continues. “By bringing drivers into the conversation and setting performance goals for fuel efficiency and idling, we’re providing a means for everyone to measure their own performance.”
Fuel economy is a main consideration as well when Braun’s is specifying new vehicles. “For our 10 newest tractors, and the eight we have on order,” says Chuck Patton, fleet manager, “we work with Mack Trucks to spec’ equipment for fuel savings. For example, we’ve changed our engine and gear-ratio specifications, and all of our latest orders have been for EPA SmartWay-certified units that have aerodynamic bumpers, mirrors, side and roof fairings, and a battery powered APU.”
Another SmartWay spec’ adopted by Braun’s is to use wide-base single tires on all tractor drive and trailer axles in the fleet. Specs’ call for Michelins X-One tires on tractors and Bridgestone Greatec trailer models. The fleet’s trailers are also being outfitted with Meritor Tire Inflation Systems.
Improving reliability, safety
PeopleNet’s PerformX is also playing a role in improving vehicle reliability at Braun’s. “The mileage and fuel usage data it pulls from the engine ECM makes it easier to track maintenance needs,” Patton relates. “PerformX can also provide diagnostic data so we won’t have to wait for a tractor to return to one of our facilities. The ability to monitor fault codes means we can avoid breakdowns that impact costs and customer service.”
PerformX is also playing a role in enhancing safety at Braun’s, says Operations Manager, Bill Borek. “We originally adopted the PeopleNet system for its ability to generate electronic logs and assure compliance with Hours-of-Service regulations. Auditing paper logs was not only very time consuming; we also feel that the accuracy of the electronic data helps make us a much safer operation.
“In addition,” Borek continues, “PerformX can be programmed to alert us when a vehicle is speeding or if it starts or stops suddenly, including noting its exact location. Its onboard event recording can also be used to reconstruct accidents and other events with details such as time, odometer reading, vehicle speed, engine speed, GPS location and direction.”
Borek also notes how the PeopleNet solutions at Braun’s are helping streamline management functions. “The
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Braun’s Express Trailer Specifications |
system is used to maintain communication between our drivers and dispatchers, for driving directions and arrival and departure information, and for managing backhauls of general commodities we handle for established customers and brokers,” he says. “Additionally, the GPS data in the system is streamlining our fuel-tax reporting, and is used to feed our payroll system. PeopleNet’s on-board computer provides an amazing amount of information that is helping us improve customer service and operating efficiency in many ways.”
Family affair
In business since the early 1930s, Joe Braun of Medway, Mass., founded Braun’s Express as a one-truck operation. The company was purchased and incorporated in 1967 by Roy Nutting, and then purchased by David and Cindy Normandin in 1982. David started with Braun’s as a driver in 1978, worked in the dispatch office and was named president in 1981. Cindy, a schoolteacher, joined the company in 1985.
Cindy Normandin states, “We attribute a lot of our success to our strategic partnerships with customers and suppliers. Most importantly, we have benefitted from the efforts of a very knowledgeable senior management team and our many long-time employees. Everyone at Braun’s is dedicated to helping our operation run more efficiently.”
Maintenance partnerships help the Braun’s Express fleet run efficiently and cost effectively
There are several reasons that Braun’s Express has made major changes in its vehicle maintenance programs, notes President David Normandin. “Due to the nature of our operation we found it hard to keep up with preventive maintenance schedules,” he says. “We also didn’t have the resources to attract and continually train the skilled technicians needed for today’s advanced vehicles and systems. Add to that the cost of operating company shops and stocking them with parts, and all signs said we needed a new approach.”
For Braun’s, the answer was to implement a vehicle service program centered on Mack Trucks dealers located near its five terminals, and Great Dane Trailers branches and dealerships in its New York, New Jersey and Maryland locations. At the same time, an extensive network of OEM dealers is available if road service is needed along the carrier’s east coast routes.
“We have aligned ourselves with Mack and Great Dane as partners,” Fleet Manager, Chuck Patton, says. “It’s more cost efficient and productive for us to handle maintenance and repairs this way. However, we would not have been able to make that choice if the OEMs and their dealers were not ready and willing to provide the support and service we need.”
Patton is also quick to point out that Braun’s relationships with OEMs at the corporate and regional levels, and with local dealers, goes beyond providing effective and efficient service. Included in the value equation, he notes, are the ability to have warranty repairs on new equipment and PMs completed at the same time, and to have all services covered using pre-determined parts and labor prices.
“There’s also been a time savings for us,” Patton adds. “Using our own shops meant we needed one day for routine maintenance on a vehicle and another day for warranty work and larger repairs at the dealership. Now it’s all done in one day, and in all locations our dealers offer pickup and drop off service so we don’t have to spend time shuttling vehicles.”
At the two remaining Braun’s company shops, the fleet maintains trailers and makes running repairs on tractors, consisting mostly of minor items found by drivers during pre-trip inspections. The company staff also performs some in-service work on new vehicles, including installing decals and other accessories.
“This is proving to be the right choice for us,” Normandin says. “We’re in the business of delivering freight, so it makes sense to let the experts
handle this work.”
