Is your equipment in the Snow Belt, when you need it in the Sun Belt? Let trailer tracking maximize your capacity.

With the surging economy, strong freight, firming rates and challenges to productivity from the new hours rules, you might be tempted to run to the nearest truck and trailer dealers for more equipment. While growth may indeed be warranted, are you getting the most out of your existing capacity? Even if you can get the equipment – order backlog is growing – you might be better off focusing first on equipment utilization, especially if your driver turnover is high.

Knowing the location and status of your equipment and being able to use that information intelligently is central to improving utilization. Depending on your operation, knowing the location of your drivers and tractors may no longer be enough. You may need to monitor trailers independently.

Tight capacity and the new hours-of-service regulations have added a new wrinkle to the value proposition for trailer tracking – namely, billing for detention and other accessorial charges. The ability to show customers precisely when trailer doors opened or how long a spotted trailer has been sitting, for example, could mean real money. And trailer-tracking systems can address other worries, such as theft or condition of the equipment and cargo. (For more on how fleet operators use trailer tracking to prevent theft and monitor trailer status and load conditions, see “Eye on the Prize,” CCJ, February 2003.)

For Mesilla Valley Transport (MVT), the decision to install satellite-based tracking on its entire fleet of trailers “all comes down to utilization,” says Dean Rigg, chief financial officer of the 600-truck carrier based in Las Cruces, N.M. Rigg estimates that the investment in installing tracking units in all of its trailers will pay for itself in 4 to 6 months by giving the company the information it needs to reduce its trailer-to-tractor ratio. The company is also using its Skybitz Insight system to monitor detention times at shipper’s locations.

“We’ve already started collecting detention and accessorial fees,” Rigg says. “Our goal is not to charge, but to turn our trailers quicker.”

Using software applications, fleets can identify idle assets and put them to work. Powerful exception-based reporting tools allow fleets to gain better visibility and control of hundreds, even thousands, of trailers.