The truckers in Katherine Lehman’s family are pretty old school in their profession, even to the point of using paper maps to plan routes. The trucking industry has been slower than others to adopt technology, but that is changing with companies like Onfleet – where Lehman serves as director of digital marketing – that offers mapping and route optimization solutions.
At Wilson Logistics, all trucks are equipped with onboard telematics that assist with routing and mapping, but it remains the responsibility of every driver to properly plan each trip and make accommodations for delays, said Chief Operating Officer Bruce Stockton. That could mean using a paper map or a navigational system, and though many carriers have upgraded from paper and pen operations, even basic navigational systems aren’t optimal anymore.
To drive efficiency, it has become even more important for carriers to invest in route-optimizing technology, which is especially true as the country will soon see the welcomed challenges that come with President Biden’s infrastructure bill, which includes $120 billion in Federal Highway Apportionments for highways and bridges for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 with over 2,800 bridge projects having been launched as of the one-year anniversary of the bill signing on Nov. 15.
Its expected impacts – including road closures, freight delays and potential increases in traffic violations, among other things – to the transportation industry is a regular dinner table conversation for Lehman and her family as she sits between truckers and civil engineers.
“I think the companies that are going to have the most successful projects and stay on schedule, and stay on budget – and just be more successful and eventually get more contracts – are going to be the ones utilizing tools like Onfleet to make their operations more efficient,” Lehman said. “In this day and age, the more efficient you can be and the happier you can keep your drivers, the more success you're going to see as a business. And one of the ways of doing that is by improving their routes with route optimization.
“They want to have nice routes that are planned for them so they can make their day as efficient as possible and make the most money possible,” she added. “So I think these tools that are making that process more streamlined for both the drivers and the dispatchers is bringing improvement to the industry as a whole.”
In anticipation of the road projects that will result from the bill, which includes provisions to upgrade transportation and supply chains, Lehman said Onfleet will use its new series B funding to implement more product improvements and expansions to make its systems more efficient.
