Managing fleets digitally - Part I

Published in Western Canada Highway News:
A fleet of 900-plus tractors. About 1,000 drivers. More than 180 million kilometres every year. Bison Transport does a lot of business out of its Winnipeg base of operations and terminals in Regina, Edmonton, Calgary and Mississauga.
For everything to go smoothly, the company relies on top-notch dispatchers, mechanics, drivers and other employees to step up and do their best every day.
TMW System software – specifically TMWSuite - helps make it all happen too, says Bison information systems vice-president Mike Ludwick.
“We were one of the earlier customers of TMW’s Windows-based products back in 1999,” he says, adding he has seen the software maker’s programs evolve to meet customer needs. “They understood what things were critical to truck transportation and focused on those things to make them work. I would say the product today is very robust.”
Twenty-first-century digital technology has become increasingly important in recent years for an industry that has relatively ancient internal-combustion engine technology as its cornerstone. Several software companies offer multi-model systems for everything from shipping records to maintenance schedules to payroll.
The TMW product line includes TMWSuite, TruckMate and TL2000. The Ohio-based company’s website proclaims the software packages “enable carriers to easily integrate vital, real-time data from every facet of their operations into a single system to maximize operational efficiency, deliver superior customer service and ensure long-term profitability.” TMW has more than 1,000 customers managing about 175,000 trucks, and counts mapmaker Rand-McNally and Canada’s Shaw Tracking among its Business Alliance Program partners.