In today’s ever-expanding supply chain, it can be difficult to identify exactly where trucking operations and logistics can be optimized. However, with the rise of smart logistics and an increase in access to comprehensive fleet data and analytics, optimization is now more manageable than ever.
Smart logistics allow you to reduce operational headaches and save money in several ways, including increasing supply chain efficiency, reducing transportation costs, optimizing order management, improving return on investment, and reducing environmental impact.
Increase Supply Chain Efficiency
Increased efficiency means improved equipment availability, which reduces pain points and delays when locating and scheduling an asset for maintenance. Telematics solutions like FleetPulse collect precise data directly from the trailer’s components, positioning fleets for automation, electrification, and smart distribution centers.
Track shipments from end-to-end in real-time, optimizing route planning and improving fleet maintenance. Each trailer on the highway is unique, and the robust and detailed data transmitted by FleetPulse provides a high-resolution view into your trailer’s condition.
On the road, smart trailer technology allows your trailer to avoid construction zones and traffic congestion to make the most of drive time. Smart logistics lets you track all movements of your assets, so you know if they’re delayed long before they surprise the customer with a missed delivery time. Unexpected delays can damage your company’s reputation and risk customer relationships that you’ve spent years building.
Reduce Transportation Costs
Fixing a maintenance issue in the yard will always be cheaper – and safer – than fixing it on the side of the highway. Predictive maintenance maximizes uptime for your equipment and your workforce while avoiding the costs and delays associated with emergency repairs.
Addressing issues long before they sideline your asset reduces the risk of damage to temperature-sensitive cargo, minimizes warranty claims, and decreases the possibility of traffic accidents caused by a blown tire or another issue that could have been predicted.
Smart trailer technology also lowers logistical risk through compliance with local laws. For example, driving into California, with its unique regulations, can expose you to citations and fines if your asset is not locally compliant.
Logistics costs can be further optimized by streamlining process steps, including:
● Reassessing routes between warehouses and suppliers.
● Rethinking shipping frequency.
● Pinpointing recoverable costs.
● Consolidating shipments.
Optimize Order Management
Smart logistics also allow you to optimize the workload across your fleet and workforce, making the most of increased asset availability.
Optimizing transportation routes, transportation modes, service level, storage capacity, product flow, worker capacity, and warehouse processing all contribute to a streamlined workflow that maximizes the output of your equipment and reduces waste, like:
● Spending hours of drive time in congested traffic.
● Sending shipments too often or not often enough.
● Missing opportunities to combine shipments.
● Sidelining your equipment for unnecessary pit stops based on a standardized schedule rather than real-time data direct from your trailer’s components.
Improve Your Return on Investment
With routes and maintenance optimized, you can do more with less. More efficiency allows for lower inventory levels. Reducing wear and tear on your assets and addressing maintenance issues as soon as they arise results in an increased lifespan for your trailer. And when you do need to retire old equipment, you may find that your new optimized processes can absorb the loss without slowdown or a decrease in productivity.
Optimization allows for higher asset utilization. Each piece of equipment in your fleet can realize its full potential, reducing downtime and eliminating slack from the supply chain.
And with fewer costly roadside events thanks to predictive maintenance, surprise expenses and logistical disruptions can be mitigated. Instead, your processes can run with relatively few bumps, letting you focus on the road ahead.
Curious how much a telematics solution like FleetPulse could save you? Check out our ROI Calculator.
Reduced Environmental Impact
More efficient deliveries mean fewer hours on the road, which creates less wear on your equipment and requires fewer gallons of fuel. This not only saves you money but also reduces your equipment’s effect on the environment.
Route optimization equals fewer unnecessary hours stuck in traffic — and more efficient, better-maintained equipment reduces carbon output.
Another benefit is increased longevity for various parts on your trailer, like brake pads. Instead of depending on a generalized maintenance schedule to replace brake pads across your entire fleet, a smart logistics solution enables you to optimize which trailers get updated pads and when. Not only does this lengthen the lifespan of your brake rotors and pads, it also reduces the landfill impact.
Increased Security for Your Assets
Your equipment and its cargo must reliably reach their destination. It’s essential for you and your customers who depend on timely, consistent deliveries. FleetPulse equips you with tools to track your assets and alerts you in real time to any suspicious activity that could threaten your delivery.
Geofencing is made possible by the constant 4G relay of telematics data from your asset to your operator. Set geographic parameters around your equipment and its cargo to ensure it does not deviate from the route and be alerted if it does.
FleetPulse also monitors cargo weight and temperature in real time, and it alerts you if the trailer doors open at unscheduled times, ensuring that your equipment arrives at its destination at the right temperature with exactly the cargo that it left with. Be sure your cargo is not accessed at unauthorized times by unauthorized individuals.
Optimized for the Future
Harnessing smart logistics will allow you to make better, data-driven decisions that can optimize your processes for efficiency and cost-effectiveness throughout the supply chain.
Learn more about FleetPulse, Great Dane’s smart trailer telematics solution.
