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Greatwide is the largest dedicated refrigerated provider in the country.

As the company sought to answer this question, it actually created another question. That was how to retain driver relationships with centralized dispatchers. Drivers are accustomed to being able to sit and converse with someone at a local operations center,” says Boyd. “They are on the road for long periods and they like to have that human interaction. So our question was how can we continue to provide that kind of personal attention.”

The solution for Greatwide was Microsoft’s XRM (Extended Relationship Management) product coupled with McLeod software used in the company’s centralized dispatch organization, Transportation Operations Center (TOC), at Greatwide headquarters.

“We slightly modified the XRM system to sit atop the McLeod trucking system. This provides an interface into the McLeod system that leverages some of the details we require for the relationship management,” Boyd explains. “The software helps us collect information that allows us to understand the haul preferences drivers have. We usually present drivers with a choice of loads based on their preferences and ask which one they prefer.”

Once the driver has selected his preferred load, dispatch selects the load and the system automatically updates which load was chosen and operations can then track the progress of that load through settlement and billing. Boyd notes this system first rolled out in December of 2009 and continues to be rolled out throughout Greatwide’s network of 59 operations centers.

How is the system working so far? “We were blown away by the results, which we measured,” reports Boyd. He says the company conducted two separate studies. One was a time-motion study clocking the entry time required to complete a dispatch going directly through the McLeod system. The company then studied the number of loads that were being managed by TOC before the rollout and the number of loads being managed after the rollout.

“Just considering the time-motion study, we measured a 500-plus-percent improvement. But it’s not just about how quickly you can enter data—we also have to consider the driver interaction and we want to account for that in our measurement. When we did consider this, we found there was a 263-percent improvement in productivity.”

Another amazing element of the system is its simplicity, Boyd reports. “We wanted the interface to be a simple point-and-click operation. This will help training labor for peak periods. This was another surprise for us because it used to require two days of training, but now it takes only two hours to train someone.” He adds that dispatchers confirm the system is easy to use and allows them to focus on making sure the load is executed properly without having to pay too much attention to the technology involved.

Another area providing cost benefit is having a solution to the cost of running empty miles. “Companies everywhere are trying to reduce their overall operating costs during this economic downturn,” explains Boyd.