Finding the GPS ROI — It’s Easier Than You Think

….. Empire’s Atlanta-based warehouse is its largest, with as many as 40 trucks making up to 700 stops per day to support the needs of 6,000 customers. In monitoring delivery operations at this location, Empire very quickly realized that it required real-time visibility into activities on the road to continue providing optimum levels of service. “If a driver was held up in the morning at the first stop for an hour, we had no way of knowing if we were going to miss time windows ahead,” says Dyrc McLeod, director of operations for Empire Distributors. “We couldn’t collect information on exceptions as they happened. Instead, drivers would provide us with an update either later in the day or at the end of their shift. If our drivers decided to park for a couple of hours, we also had no way of knowing it.” …  Another benefit is improved accountability. “Now that we have access to more information on the road, I can set delivery standards in terms of per-hour service time and enforce driver accountability,” he explains. “If a driver falls below the standard we can work on the problem, determine the issue and provide training if necessary.”… “With Cube Route, I can now compare the profitability of each route,” he continues. “I can find more profitable ways to manage smaller orders. The best part is that everything we are doing is invisible to the customer. All they’re seeing is better service.” Full Article Here:

Let’s see now … improved route scheduling, better driver performance, decreased fuel cost, decreased labor cost and … oh yes, perhaps a little bit important in today’s world … increased customer satisfaction.

Now tell me again what it is you can’t afford?  I haven’t sold or serviced this Cube Route solution (see:www.cuberoute.com ) but I really like what I see there.  Unlike so many GPS sellers who seem to be fascinated with the technology, Cube Route basically uses any tracking technology, including GPS cell phones and focused on the business aspects.

If you don’t know where your trucks are, you can’t tell if your business is booming, turning in mediocre performance or crashing and burning.

If you don’t know when your drivers start work, how long their breaks are or when they quit, how can you possibly sign the payroll checks with confidence that you are discharging your managerial responsibilities properly.

If you think two-way radio or the silly little “push to talk” features that make cell phones imitate a radio then boy do I have some stories to tell you about how unreliable a way that is to tell who is where and when.

If you think customers will be happy with an answer like,” I’ll call the driver and tell him to hurry, I think he’s nearly at your place now.” then you don’t know much about customer service and how easy it is for customers to go find another vendor

If you think that a call center to keep customer sup to date is a good (or cheap) solution, think again, even if your CSR’s do speak English.

In short, if you are in logistics you need a logistics management system and if you think you can’t afford it, you better think again … in today’s world you can’t afford not to.

You can’t manage what you can’t measure.