As the freight recession lengthens in 2024, truckload fleets must continue innovating to balance costs with falling revenues. However, opportunities to find savings in top expense categories like wages, fuel, and insurance may be limited.
Eliminating errors from revenue and cash flow processes is critical, especially during a recession. Rushville, Ind.-based Fraley and Schilling had a billing problem caused when drivers picked up loads from customers outside normal business hours.
Fraley and Schilling, which operates over 650 power units, created a fully integrated custom mobile app feature to improve data consistency and generate significant savings. The project’s success contributes to its growth and profitability in a difficult operating environment.
The Data Problem
When drivers arrive at customers early in the morning, sometimes their assigned loads are not ready for departure. Rather than make drivers wait, some customers give them different loads going to the same destinations.
If Fraley and Schilling’s office was open, drivers could call or message their fleet managers to update the load information. However, tracking changes was difficult when the office was closed. Without updates, bills of lading (BOLs) and other load documents did not match the order details in Fraley and Schilling’s transportation management system (TMS).
The customers rejected payments for loads with the wrong documents. When this happened, back-office staff quickly contacted dispatch to sort through the mess and correct the issue. This took dispatchers away from assisting drivers with their current loads. Rework created job frustration as well as productivity and revenue loss.
Self-Dispatching Drivers
Nicky Cupp, Fraley and Schilling’s director of continuous improvement, worked with the company’s back-office team on numerous projects to streamline processes for billing, driver payroll and settlements, and logistics brokerage.
As the business grew, new challenges arose for managing load information.
“Recognizing the need for change, we embarked on a journey to empower our drivers and streamline our operations,” Cupp said. “We call our solution ‘self-dispatching.’ It puts the power in the hands of drivers to self-dispatch using a simple load entry number system.”
Fraley and Schilling had its systems integrator, ASR Solutions, and custom app developer Eleos, create a user-friendly system that allows drivers to access available loads and assign themselves with a few taps.
Training drivers to use the new feature in the fleet’s custom app takes less than five minutes.
To self-dispatch, drivers open the app, click “get load,” and select the customer. Next, they type in the reference number.
The system verifies that the load number is not already assigned to another driver and matches a load in the system for the shipper. Drivers also type in their unit and trailer numbers. When they submit the form, the system assigns the load to the driver and starts the trip, saving them an extra step.
If the driver misses a digit, the app says the load is unavailable for self-dispatch and asks the driver to verify the number. The driver’s fleet manager also gets an email to review the entry and determine why the load could not be self-dispatched. This information allows managers to call or message the driver to resolve the issue proactively.
“None of this would have been possible without the Eleos app, and we are sincerely grateful to ASR Solutions for their partnership in making this happen,” Cupp said.
An Easy Roll Out
Drivers use the fleet’s custom app on personal smartphones and in-cab tablets. With the integrated self-dispatch feature, drivers no longer must wait for dispatchers to assign loads. They can arrive at customers and select loads ready to go, reducing idle time and increasing productivity.
Drivers self-managing their load assignments streamlines driver-dispatcher communications and increases job satisfaction. More importantly, the process has eliminated the need to untangle the complexities of rejected invoices.
Cupp said the self-dispatching feature was developed for three customers, impacting 20 drivers assigned to accounts with approximately 20,000 loads per year. The feedback from drivers and dispatchers so far has been positive.
“Dispatchers say it’s quicker to train the driver on the new system than to fix one mistake the old way,” she said. “We expect significant improvements in our operations. The full impact of this change is still being realized as we continue to roll it out.”
Unlocking Savings
During a freight recession, fleets can quickly innovate with custom apps to unlock savings. Besides back-office efficiencies, driver retention and trip planning are two significant savings opportunities with custom mobile apps.
Consider the savings potential of reducing driver turnover by an extra 20% this year. For a 250-truck fleet, retaining 50 drivers rather than replacing them at $8,000 each would save $415,000 in training costs.
A custom app helps fleets improve retention by giving drivers access to all the tools for the job, removing uncertainty. Drivers can scan and attach paperwork, view completed trips, and know exactly what to expect on their next paycheck. Additionally, custom apps help drivers and dispatchers be more efficient by having step-by-step workflows for each load, along with trip-planning tools for selecting fueling and rest breaks, turn-by-turn voice navigation, and single-menu access to training materials, policies, and procedures.
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