Maximize Your Teams’ Efficiency with the Right Mix of Transportation Technology
Your company’s technology, in addition to being up to date, should empower your employees to work more effectively and efficiently - whether it is behind the wheel or in the back office.
As transportation technology continues to advance, it is crucial that you ensure your technology stack consists of solutions that take advantage of these innovations.
This post will cover how current technological advances can help companies like yours become more efficient and productive wherever and however work is being done.
Improving Efficiency with a Dynamic, Up to Date TMS
From accelerated company growth to unforeseen issues on an administrative and logistics level, transportation pros like you are no stranger to the complexities that exist in every part of your business and in the larger supply chain.
Whether it’s a matter of communication or data entry, the right transportation management software (TMS) will give your teams the tools they need to adapt and stay efficient. These systems can assist carriers, shippers and intermediate companies by providing sophisticated visibility into all aspects of your transportation operations.
At Trimble, we design our entire TMS lineup to help both asset and non-asset-based companies manage the entire order-to-cash process - from initial load planning to settlements. Each of our TMS platforms is built to provide you and your teams with visibility and control so that you can be more efficient in how you plan, dispatch and deliver.
It is also important to go beyond just noting what a TMS can do but how it does it. Choosing a cloud-based TMS can help you identify further efficiencies when compared to an on-premise version. By moving to the cloud, your company can eliminate the need for VPN tunnels and remote desktop access and also provide you with a scalable solution to grow alongside you as technology and your operations advance.
Innovative and Reliable Fleet Mobility Solutions
It’s not just back-office solutions that can help drive increased efficiency for transportation companies. Utilizing the right mix of fleet mobility solutions can help carriers optimize performance and efficiency, for drivers and back office personnel alike.
Some things to consider when looking at fleet mobility hardware include:
Speed and Connectivity
The key to good driver-back office communication is ensuring a reliable and powerful connection to your vehicle base. As wireless carriers evolve their networks and begin to sunset older 3G networks, it is crucial that you rely on in-cab solutions that leverage 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) connectivity.
Why? As wireless carriers continue to invest in LTE, 3G-powered solutions will be subject to increasingly limited connectivity before 3G networks go away for good, leaving these older devices obsolete.
But the benefits of LTE-connected equipment go beyond avoiding 3G network sunsets. LTE networks have a higher bandwidth compared to their 3G forerunners, enabling you to not just communicate faster but allow you to deploy new apps and distribute larger message types (i.e. videos) to your driver base in a fast and efficient way.
Hardware Options Tailored to Your Business
The connectivity of your in-cab hardware is important but so, too, is the type of equipment you choose. With the rise of consumer-grade devices in transportation, operating systems like Android™ are becoming more and more common.
In addition to the operating system, hardware is evolving so that less equipment may be needed to provide your trucks with connectivity. For example, the Trimble Duo is a single device that combines an LTE vehicle gateway with an Android display. Instead of multiple pieces of hardware and time-consuming installations, devices like the Trimble Duo help fleets like yours quickly deploy and connect their drivers and vehicles.
A final consideration on fleet mobility hardware is understanding your drivers’ daily workflows. Do they do work outside the cab that requires electronic signature capture? What about electronic driver vehicle inspection reports? If so, perhaps a portable tablet might be preferred over a fixed-mount display. How about operating in extreme weather conditions or in particularly tough conditions? If so, you may want to consider a ruggedized device built specifically for the rigors of the industry.
Looking for more tips on fleet mobility hardware? Check out our guide to help you understand the nuances of selecting the right equipment and provider for your business-specific needs.
Trimble’s Focus on Enabling a More Connected and Efficient Transportation Supply Chain
At Trimble, we are dedicated to maximizing connectivity and productivity wherever work is being done. With a comprehensive mix of hardware and software solutions, we help transportation companies every day to harness technology that drives tangible improvements to their productivity and bottom line.
Regardless of where you fall in the transportation supply chain, we can help you optimize your performance and connectivity. Speak with us today to learn more about how our solutions can fit into your operations and streamline every aspect of your business.