Asset-tracking devices and software have revolutionized the transportation and logistics industries, and are a key part of overcoming current challenges. From rising fuel prices, to supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, asset-tracking software provides a valuable solution to the complex disruptions facing the industry. This article explores the many ways asset-tracking devices and software are improving operations in the transportation and logistics space.
Improve Fleet Management With Real-Time Fleet Visibility
The overarching benefit of an asset-tracking solution is that it gives fleet managers a complete picture of all asset statuses — loaded, empty, stationary, or in transit — in real-time. This will drive efficiencies into a business by empowering operational managers to make quick adjustments to shipments, reduce wasted time with automated yard checks and save driver time with exact pick-up location coordinates. These primary benefits will drive higher bottom-line revenue through efficiency. However, asset location and status only scratch the surface of potential benefits this technology can provide to your organization.
What else can it do?
View and Increase Cargo Utilization
In this time of manufacturing slow-downs and prices soaring on new asset purchases, asset-tracking solutions can ensure you’re maximizing the cargo capacity already available to you. How is this done? Cargo sensors can measure the capacity of each asset you have to determine where potentially unused cargo space is available. This critical information allows you to optimize use of your existing fleet capacity while reducing the need for purchasing new assets, saving on capital expenditures, and covering increased customer demand.
Dwell and Detention Fees
Managing hundreds or thousands of assets can be complicated. In some cases, assets can get lost or forgotten after a delivery is completed. This becomes an unplanned expense when these assets sit in yards or ports accumulating demurrage fees over days, months, or even years.
Asset tracking alerts you to idle assets that may be in danger of prolonged detention and dwell times, enabling you to call for release of assets before costs get out of control. Accumulated dwell time information per asset is saved in dwell and detention reports. This allows you to check invoice amounts against your asset data to help ensure the demurrage fee invoices you receive are accurate and you are not being overcharged.
Prevent Losses with Open/Close Alerts
Open and closed door alerts notify you of unauthorized access to containers, trailers, and railcars. These alerts allow you to notify authorities immediately to reduce or prevent losses from theft. The amount of cargo in one asset can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, so the return on investment of asset-tracking solutions can be immediate with a single incident of theft prevention.
Reduce Idle Time for Improved Employee Satisfaction
Asset tracking can also improve employee satisfaction. From eliminating wasted time looking for specific containers and trailers in yards — so that drivers aren’t subjected to unproductive miles or hours — to enabling operators to pre-schedule maintenance convenient to their location, asset tracking creates a more productive, efficient workday for employees.
Reduce Operating Costs by Maximizing Fuel Usage
Fuel costs are at record highs and eating into profits for transportation and logistics companies worldwide. Asset-tracking software can ensure your operators are maximizing fuel usage by reducing idle times at yards and ports, monitoring speed en route, and optimizing routes to avoid traffic bottlenecks.
Identify Trends Impacting Efficiency
Asset-tracking software helps improve your operations by allowing for the creation of a variety of custom reports that identify trends in your operations. Reports can be created to identify trends in fleet utilization and deployment, cargo utilization and optimization, fleet maintenance, employee productivity, and more.
Make Data-Driven Decisions
Utilizing asset-tracking software allows you to make decisions based on facts provided by unprecedented data collection capabilities. This enables better fleet management that ultimately helps you make more informed choices. User-friendly dashboards with continuous viewing offer quick data review to improve overall operations.
BlackBerry Radar
BlackBerry Radar® asset-tracking devices and software provide best-in-class data collection, accurate GPS, asset load status, automated yard checks, and unlimited report creation to help reduce operating costs by improving efficiency and operator satisfaction.
Transportation and logistics businesses can now quickly procure and deploy BlackBerry Radar asset-monitoring solutions across their entire fleet in AWS Marketplace. To try up to five BlackBerry Radar asset tracking devices for free, contact the BlackBerry Radar team at (844)-239-4572.
