“Eaton’s Vorad system, for safety reasons. I believe that’s more important than satellite tracking or anything like that. It would help keep the accident rate down.”
Shirley Dempsey, vice president
Jefferson Transport Services, Jefferson, Wis.
“Trailer tracking, but cost is an issue for that. We have everything else today, but you can always improve on what you have. What I’d really like is mechanical drivers, but that’s not an option. I’d also like the Eaton Vorad, but that’s cost prohibitive.”
Tom Schmidt, vice president
and general manager
Gordon Sevig Trucking Co., Walford, Iowa
“I’m up to my ears in technology. I don’t know what’s out there we don’t already have. We have satellite communications, advanced software and all that stuff. We’re pretty much up to date. If cost were not an issue, though, we would take a strong look at the Eaton Vorad.”
Frank Campbell, president
HF Campbell and Sons, Millerstown, Pa.
“Onsite fueling. Because the expense of fuel is so high, you can buy fuel cheaper by buying bulk fuel. That might save a lot of money, but cost is the issue. You have to get your tank set up, get a card reader and set all that up. The cost is prohibitive.”
Susan Justus, secretary
Justus Truck Lines, Hendersonville, N.C.
“Software for our dispatching. My company (TransGulf, Inc.) closed down last year, and I became a manager for Land Transportation. When I was with TransGulf, I needed dispatch software, but it cost $50,000 to get the type of program I needed. I would have given anything for insurance to go down. That’s what ran me out of business. We had a 50 percent increase in Louisiana last year.”
Rhonda Castillo, former president
TransGulf Inc., New Orleans
“Computer software for service maintenance. We’re in the middle of installing it right now and trying to go live with it. We hope to improve our efficiency and coordination.”
Michael Hamm, corporate
transportation manager
Bouras Industries, South Plainfield, N.J.
“We’re a different animal. That’s a real Bible question to a carrier that runs coast to coast. We run the same things every day. We’re not a long-haul carrier. For us, cost is the biggest thing. With technology changing daily, you always see something new you might want, but if we follow up on it, we find that we wouldn’t even use it. We don’t even use mobile communications; it’s not necessary for a company our size. The electronics on the engines are great. We already have the ability to use that, but we’re not looking for any new technologies right now. We’re trying to get the ones we’ve got going.”
Ike Glass, president
Glass Trucking Co., Newkirk, Ohio
“I can think of a couple of things. The first one is positioning devices. We don’t have that yet. Also, we’d like to get a mile-maker for streets. I’d like to have at least one of those two. These are the first things we would get if we had the money.”
Herman R. Schinn, president
Schinn Transport Inc., Camden, N.Y.
“Probably untethered trailer tracking. There’s no good vendor out there that does it.”
Jim, Wright, information services (IS) manager
Millis Transfer Inc., Black River Falls, Wis.
“We would probably invest in order distribution software. That would give us an opportunity with our customers once they drop in an order, we would put it in software that would make the order drop to distribution, and then we would begin freight consolidation. We can begin freight consolidation now with our current software but not at the order point. It is usually made after the order point.”
Michael R. Hall, vice president
Harry Owen Trucking Inc., Elizabethtown, Ky.
