Down to the last mile, East Coast Transport is managing loads effectively with MacroPoint: ECT strives to enable location tracking that provides real-time monitoring and event notifications. In the 3PL business, there is a disadvantage in needing to rely on having a direct telephone conversation with a carriers or drivers. Meeting pick up and delivery deadlines on time means having visibility into freight location, from start to finish, every time.
“Load tracking is becoming more of a standard in this business. It’s more critical today than ever before to have this capability. Shippers absolutely want more real time accurate information. They need to know where their freight is located at all times because their inventory handling costs are high. More brokers are demanding load tracking of carriers because it’s the only way we can fulfill our promises to our customers.” Paul Berman – Vice President of Logistics East Cost Transport
The Solution
Two years ago, in an effort to improve the services it provides its customers, East Coast Transport made an investment in MacroPoint freight tracking software. The advanced load tracking solution is now fully integrated with McLeod TMS software at ECT and is used in conjunction with the freight brokerage management system to provide high levels of accountability and operations oversight.
MacroPoint software allows ECT to monitor every load with unprecedented precision. It provides instant, automated tracking information and allows the 3rd party logistics services provider to measure carrier performance. Carriers and drivers that haul loads for ECT are increasingly adopting the easy to use point and click application. Today the conversion rate (having a driver/carrier accept the service) is about 80 percent compared to 50 percent two years ago.
MacroPoint’s patented, automated load monitoring and tracking software provides real-time load location visibility by using any cell phone, in-cab device, or trailer and container tracking system. The cloud-based solution enables location monitoring and tracking, event notifications, and exception management and predictive analytics capabilities. Integrated with a growing number of TMS systems, MacroPoint automates the entire process by eliminating the need for drivers to check in with dispatchers, and for shippers and brokers to check in with carriers. To date, over 800,000 drivers and millions of connected trucks have tracked over 20 million loads as part of the MacroPoint Carrier Visibility Network.
The Result
MacroPoint load monitoring capabilities are giving ECT greater confidence in its on-time performance because they can provide shippers with highly accurate arrival and departure times. With the freight tracking software, ECT can provide load location and status updates in minutes rather than hours.
A case in point: In 2016, for the second year in a row, long time ECT customer Butterball, LLC voted East Coast Transport “Carrier of the Year” for exceeding their expectations in all categories and criteria.
“MacroPoint saves us a huge amount of time chasing carriers and drivers to get location updates or to find out why a load may be late. Using the web-based program we can search by load number and manage by exception if a truck is behind schedule. Internally, a big advantage we have with MacroPoint is that we no longer have to utilize our personnel to continually call carriers and drivers. That’s why it’s a huge benefit in terms of supporting our operations.” Paul Berman – Vice President of Logistics East Cost Transport
