The IT Circuit

Ken Weinberg meets a lot IT managers at trucking companies. He wishes it weren’t so often the case. “I’m making some general statements, but IT people know little if anything about managing a trucking operation,” says Weinberg, vice-president of Carrier Logistics, a Tarrytown, N.Y.-based developer of management software for LTL fleets. “Their focus reflects it. They want to talk about how the software is built-programming details that really are secondary to evaluating how the program can make the trucking operation run more smoothly.”

It’s no wonder the actual users of the software-dispatchers, customer service reps, maintenance managers, operations managers, what have you-get frustrated when the program the company acquired to help them balance lanes or generate rate quotes or track vehicle maintenance doesn’t do what they need it to do. The truth is, the guy spec’ing the software didn’t have his priorities straight.

So where’s the best place to start if you’re shopping for management software? Make a comprehensive list of all the problems you want your new IT system to solve and goals that should be met, Weinberg says. Get input from each of the departments that will use the system-from telephone operators who schedule pickups and deliveries to managers who make strategic decisions and who will have the ultimate responsibility for the final purchase.

Be sure to map out different scenarios that occur in your organization which the right software package can help address, including unusual situations such as multiple trailers or split payments. “Talk to your salespeople to find out what your customers are requesting,” Weinberg advises.

Also consider how your operation is evolving. “I’ve seen it so many times,” Weinberg explains. “The company has a person or department with a specific need, that person or department ‘leads’ the project, and the system gets bought based on the individual’s needs rather than the needs of the entire company. Later on, the company finds that what it bought can’t be integrated with other software running on their system.”

After you’ve made your wish list, weight each item according to importance to your trucking operation, and then invite outside vendors to come in and make presentations to the people who will be using their product. “It’s costly,” Weinberg says, “because your own people have to give up time.

But if the project is going to have the return on the investment you want, people need to be exposed to what’s available. How else would they know?”

When you meet with suppliers, use your list to determine if their systems can do what you need. “Now your IT guy can help you ask good questions about how those needs are achieved,” Weinberg says. “All these demands you’re making, are they going to be integrated and flow automatically into one system? For example, you want Web-based pick-up and delivery requests for your customers. But do the entries go to a dispatcher or out to the truck instantaneously, or do they come into the customer service department where they may even be printed out and taken downstairs to the dispatch. So, yes, customers can schedule pick-ups on your Web site. But the system is inefficient and prone to error. That’s not the fault of the software, it’s the fault of the guy who bought it. And it’s certainly not the type of mistake you can afford to make.”