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48
cialized in temperature-controlled food shipments, but now
Five Carrier H also hauls other types of cargo, including live animals. It func-
Innovative Operational Practices tions largely as a private carrier because its primary operations
· Commercial software for PM scheduling and records are under a long-term dedicated contract with a food producer
· Trucks equipped with E-Z Pass transponders; drivers and shipper. It is also licensed as a for-hire carrier with truck-
use most efficient roads load and scheduled LTL operations. The interviewee's title
· Supervisor prepares daily "run sheet" for drivers. is general manager, with duties encompassing driver hiring,
· Daily management monitoring of pre- and post-trip training, supervision, equipment, and operations.
vehicle inspections
· Vehicles equipped with mobile tracking and Carrier I has its own truck maintenance facility and man-
communications ages PM using TMT Fleet Maintenance software, commer-
cially available from TMW Systems. This software is used to
manage PM schedules, parts inventory, fuel and tire usage,
and other maintenance schedules and records. Equipment
"Knuckle Boom." The company is experimenting with an asset and maintenance activity data are entered once and then
Electronic Vehicle Inspection Report system from Zonar.
integrated by the software into various user-formatted reports
The system uses radio-frequency identification tags attached
as an aid to equipment management and budgeting.
to key vehicle inspection points to ensure full compliance
with inspection requirements and recording of inspection
Carrier I strives to minimize deadheads (empty backhauls)
steps. The SM emphasizes, however, that it is people and man-
using brokers, load boards, and established contracts. It books
agement that ensure safety, not electronic aids.
backhauls for 95% of its longer-distance trips. Carrier I
Vehicles are equipped with Qualcomm mobile tracking charges detention fees to receivers for unloading times greater
and communications units. Supervisors do not monitor than 3 hours, though the SM believed that such fees did not
them continuously, however, because most daily operations result in significant safety benefits; they "add complexity" to
are routine. Vehicles are equipped with onboard computers the business process without solving the problem of excessive
capable of recording driving indicators such as engine speed, delays. Drivers are reimbursed for tolls, and generally
idling, hard braking, and overspeeding. The company has encouraged to use freeways. Dispatchers are usually aware
purchased the software needed to collect and analyze these of drivers' trip experience, and work with drivers to make
vehicle and driving data, and is beginning to implement sure they have maps and directions for unfamiliar trips.
onboard monitoring. Drivers can buy their own GPS navigation systems. More
drivers use general-purpose systems than truck-specific
Often crashes and safety problems that appear to be the navigation systems because the former are considerably
result of driver error are actually traceable to "system" defi- less expensive (roughly $150 versus roughly $500).
ciencies. The SM cited the example of a crash in which a
company truck ripped down a terminal gate. The crash was at Carrier I's trucks are equipped with onboard communica-
first attributed to driver carelessness, but investigation tions systems, and some vehicle engines have monitoring
revealed that the electronic gate opening device did not allow capabilities for fuel usage and idling time. Carrier I is cur-
sufficient time for the driver to activate it from outside the rently in "vendor evaluation" to add onboard computers to its
vehicle, return to the vehicle, and then drive through. Many entire fleet. This will uniformly equip vehicles with commu-
crashes and employee injuries are the result of problems with nications, electronic logs, engine monitoring, and driver per-
loading dock and yard physical layout. They can also be formance monitoring (e.g., speeds, rapid decelerations). The
related to terminal supervisors' and employees' failure to SM believed that electronic logs would improve compliance,
maintain a clean and orderly workspace. Terminal managers reduce driver fatigue, and improve the safety oversight of
are evaluated and compared based on detailed and consistent drivers. Efficient and successful companies were believed to
record-keeping on accidents and injuries. Most often, an effi- be safer companies, in part because they had the resources to
cient terminal is a safe one, although there is a caveat. Some invest in better safety equipment and processes. Efficiencies
terminal managers push productivity too hard at the expense result in more company profits to invest in safety and in more
of safety. available time to focus on safety.
Currently the company pays most local-delivery drivers
CASE STUDY I: MEDIUM-SIZED PRIVATE
AND FOR-HIRE FOOD AND GENERAL by the hour, but pays longer-haul drivers by the mile. The SM
CARGO CARRIER raised the idea that vehicle onboard monitoring equipment
might make it possible to shift long-haul drivers partially
Carrier I is a medium-sized, short- and medium-distance trans- from pay-by-the-mile to hourly pay, or to a system combin-
porter and logistics service provider serving the Mid-Atlantic, ing the two pay methods. That is because onboard monitors
Northeast, and Southeast United States. The company had spe- could be used by management to ensure that drivers were
