Shippers, Technology and the Net

NEW ORLEANS — Freight distribution systems can be optimized electronically no matter what the size of the trucking or shipping company, a pair of experts told the Oct. 26 general session of the ATA Management Conference.

“We use technology to redefine how we service the customer,” said Robert Synowicki Jr., executive vice president and chief operating officer at Werner Enterprises in Omaha, Neb. “Shippers are pushing us more and more everyday. We try to see how technology can increase our efficiency and decrease our costs.”

Max Fuller, cochairman of U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Chattanooga, Tenn., said his trucking company uses an electronic data interchange system to provide rear air freight services to customers, thereby enabling his company to carve out a niche in that market. U.S. Xpress also uses the Internet for customers without EDI capabilities.

“If technology is properly applied, it can improve your cost structure,” Mr Fuller said. “But often that technology is real expensive.”

Both Mr. Fuller and Mr. Synowicki agreed that high-end technologies such as EDI have become barriers that keep many smaller carriers out of electronic commerce. But they say smaller carriers shouldn’t despair; the Internet can often provide all the structure a company needs without having to make the expensive entry into EDI.

“Carriers need to be part of the customer supply chain,” Mr. Fuller said. “And the Internet has the capability to give smaller carriers the same ability to do that as large systems used by big carriers who spend millions of dollars on them.

Mr. Fuller said U.S. Xpress often partners with smaller carriers who service freight lanes where U.S. Xpress doesn’t operate. The partnership expands the delivery area U.S. Xpress can provide its customers, and allows smaller carriers to piggyback on the larger company’s technical capabilities.

“It becomes an incremental way for us to grow business, and at the same time bring in small, strong players,” he said.

Mr. Synowicki said Werner has similar arrangements.

“Our logistics division contracts with 7,300 different trucking companies,” he said. “It allows them to leverage our technology, and the customer sees a seamless means of transportation.”

oth executives said they expect to see more partnering among carriers. About 70% of Werner’s loads are handled through EDI at one point or another, Mr. Synowicki said.

“Some customers just use it for load tendering, and others use it for the entire process,” he said.

Mr. Fuller said about 85% of U.S. Xpress customers either use EDI or the Internet to ship product.

“It’s critical today for any carrier to have that kind of connectivity, no matter what the company’s size,” he said. “People who understand that connectivity and what they want to do with it help us reduce our costs.”