Trucker Improves CustomerService With Reports, Details

Customer service managers at Penske Truck Leasing Co. wanted to be able to tell customers everything about the company's 3,000 trucks -- not just where they were, but also what part of a trip had slowed them down, what kind of gas mileage they were getting and even the length of each stop.

"We wanted to push information down through the organization and empower people in their relations with our customers without IS getting involved and slowing things down," said Tom Nather, senior systems analyst at Penske Logistics, the information technology division of Penske Truck Leasing.

So six months ago, Penske installed a reporting mechanism that lets 400 people at the company dig into a data warehouse.

Here's how it works: Penske drivers key basic information into the keypad for a Qualcomm Inc. application that hooks into sensors in each truck and measures speed, brakes and engine performance. It feeds data up to satellites each night, which transfer the data to an AS/400 server in the Penske Logistics Center in Beachwood, Ohio.

The AS/400 converts the data into a format an IBM DB2 relational database can handle. The DB2 then sends it to a data warehouse, where customer service representatives can access it using Business Objects SA's WebIntelligence.

"We now have access to far more fields of related data, and we can pull up reports in 10 minutes that used to take us hours," said Suzanne Carson, a Penske field manager.

The new reporting capabilities have even helped Penske close sales, Nather said.

Penske isn't the only trucking firm collecting trip data. Roadway Express Inc. tracks truck movements, loading time and cost per route. Schneider National Inc. tracks its trailers using the ORBCOMM LEO satellite network and uses Web-Intelligence to look into transit data.

Observers noted that package shippers Federal Express Corp. and United Parcel Service of America Inc. set the technological pace in shipment tracking. Schneider and Penske trail but are still among the more advanced.

Warren Powell, a professor of operations research at Princeton University, said the ability to closely track trucks isn't new, but making it cost-effective is. "It isn't a matter of what's technologically possible; it's what's technologically economical," Powell said.