By 2050, the demand for freight transport will triple. It will also cause the growth of problems related to unreasonable management of transport. Shippers, sellers, and logistics companies cannot always monitor how the transportation process is going. They don’t know where the goods are at a particular time, when they will arrive at their destination, and how conscientiously drivers perform their duties. A half-empty truck hitting the road is a common thing. It is high time to solve these problems before they turn into a disaster by adopting a transportation management system. In this article, we’ll tell you why businesses should pay attention to logistics software development.
The definition of a transportation management system
A transportation management system is software that helps to choose the vehicle type, plan the transport route, track the movement of the vehicle to its destination. It is a reliable management tool for logisticians, CEOs and other participants of the logistics chain who coordinate the delivery of goods.
TMS allows you to:
– plan routes considering the working hours of warehouses and petrol stations, customers’ preferences, drivers’ work shifts, and other issues;
– create route sheets and write reports;
– control the movement of vehicles in real time;
– choose profitable delivery routes;
– flexibly change the route due to obstacles (traffic jams, natural disasters, sudden breakdowns);
– monitor the technical condition of the transport and plan repairs;
– see whether the driver obeys traffic laws.
These features make a TMS a powerful tool for managing cargo traffic. Logistics companies are getting the job done by using fewer trucks, less petrol, and delivering goods faster.
The advantages of a TMS
A transportation management system developed to meet the needs of a particular logistics organization solves the following problems:
It saves moneyÂ
A TMS allows you to control the cost of fuel, vehicle maintenance, and delivery. The system suggests a short and profitable delivery route so that the driver spends less fuel on extra miles.
When the platform integrates with IoT sensors attached to a truck, the application monitors the condition of the vehicle. The software notifies you of scheduled maintenance in advance. The vehicle is repaired before it breaks down on the road. Spontaneous repairs are usually more expensive than scheduled maintenance.
Time is money. This proverb characterizes the basic principle of the logistics industry. If the supplier delays delivery, the customer has the right to charge the contractor a fine of up to 7.5% of the value of the goods. The TMS protects the logistics company from penalties because it helps to coordinate the delivery of goods.
It helps to select the best delivery route
A TMS analyzes thousands of routes in a few minutes and chooses the best one based on delivery details. For example, it takes into account the vehicle size and the location of the roads allowing the movement of heavy trucks or limits on carbon emissions in particular regions. There are many factors, and the program goes through appropriate options.
The application comes to assistance in cases when unforeseen situations occur on the road. For example, if an accident occurs on the highway and the traffic is blocked, the application will rebuild the route and tell you which road you should take to fulfil the delivery conditions and arrive at your destination on time.
The software can merge several routes into one so that the truck does not go half-empty to one customer. The manager integrates two orders, and a fully-loaded vehicle sets off for two customers located next to each other.
It allows you to track vehicles in real time
A TMS provides logistics companies with what they lack in their operations – visibility of the supply chain. The program fixes the location of the transport on the map and informs the managers of its coordinates. The operator does not need to contact the driver by phone or messenger to clarify the location.
RFID tags, barcodes or IoT sensors attached to boxes and packages allow you to easily track the location of the cargo. Connected sensors also transmit information about the product condition, storage temperature, humidity level, and weight. For customers, this is an additional guarantee that the goods will arrive in appropriate condition and won’t be stolen on the road. When logisticians see that the cargo is delayed, they contact the customer in advance to warn about the situation and discuss possible deviations from the delivery schedule.
TMS offers drivers convenient work schedules
A shortage of truck drivers is a global problem in logistics. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average truck driver is 55 years old. Young specialists do not want to enter the industry because of the travelling lifestyle and inconvenient work schedules.
A TMS solves the problem by offering drivers convenient schedules and reducing travel times. The application stores a database of workers indicating their place of residence. The system builds a route according to the relay principle. A driver who lives in town A drives a truck to town B where their colleague is located. They hand over the vehicle to their partner and return home by car following to point A. Thus, it will be possible to reduce the duration of business trips and create comfortable working conditions.
An example of how an application with TMS functionality works
A platform created by a European logistics software development company allows you to track transport and analyze live streams from a DVR. Agents of the logistics company can not only monitor the location of the transport but also see how carefully the loaded truck is driven. They monitor such parameters as eco speed, idle hours, idling, hard braking, and others.
Source: andersenlab.com
The development team implemented fuel management functionality. Vehicles are equipped with sensors that monitor fuel consumption. A manager identifies the cars that consume the most and correlates the costs with the route. Thus, operators know that it is worth working on the route to shorten it. Fuel indicators allow you to plan stops and places to refuel.
The system calculates the fleet efficiency based on daily and weekly activity. The program warns about the dates of the upcoming vehicle service, the cost of repairs, expiring documents, mileage, and other important issues.
Conclusion
Two years ago, Gartner suggested that heads of logistics companies should invest in digitalization to rationalize the supply chain and make it visible. Implementation of a transportation management system will help to carry out this task. A TMS is a key not only to efficiency and cost savings but also to market competitiveness. Therefore, it is worth contacting an experienced logistics software development company. It will implement a transportation management mechanism suitable for the organization’s business processes.
Also Read: Supply Chain Management For Packaging Services: Why It’s Needed?
