Future of trucking made in Waterloo
New technology disrupting trucking and logistics
WATERLOO REGION — A longhaul trucker on a lonely stretch of highway is heading home with a half-empty trailer when he receives a message on his smartphone.
There is some cargo nearby that would easily fit into the underused trailer being pulled across the country. The software behind the message has already calculated his hours of operation, and knows he can pick up the load and deliver it without exceeding the limits. The message also tells the driver how much this extra job pays.
After accepting the job, the driver isn’t worried about finding his way to this unexpected, but welcome cargo. He knows that the high-tech gizmo attached to the back door on his trailer will guide him to the cargo’s exact location.
That’s what Toronto-based Fleet Complete is trying to do with the crucial help of technology
developed in Waterloo.
“This is something that nobody in the industry has been able to do,” said David Prusinski, executive-vice president of sales and marketing for Fleet Complete. “It is very cool.”
The Waterloo startup BigRoad developed the software and hardware for electronic logs that automatically track a driver’s hours behind the wheel. Electronic logs became mandatory in the U.S. last month, and Canada will soon follow suit. Connected directly to a transport truck’s engine, the devices automatically keep accurate counts of a driver’s hours of operation.
BigRoad also developed an in-app platform called Big Road Freight that finds loads for drivers based on their current location, and how many hours they have already logged.
BigRoad was acquired last year by Fleet Complete, which added the startup’s platforms to its GPS-enabled software for tracking big rigs.
Just before Christmas, Fleet Complete announced it is buying BlackBerry Radar devices. Those devices track the locations of trailers, how much room is available inside, and the temperature, humidity and barometric pressure in the trailer — important information when the cargo is food or pharmaceuticals.
More than 130,000 truckers are using Fleet Complete’s technology, which can connect them to loads that will fill half-empty trailers while they are on the road.
“So they are getting the best load in real time before anybody else,” said Prusinski. “Getting good loads is the biggest thing every trucker wants.”
The combined application of technologies has the potential to radically change how truckers find their loads, he said.
Traditionally, truckers dealt with load boards, a service dominated by two large companies. Everything was done over the phone. Independents and smallfleet operators had to compete against big trucking companies for loads.
But that will change if Fleet Complete connects truckers on the road with potential cargo along the route waiting to be picked up.
“The load matching industry is worth tens of billions of dollars,” said Prusinski. “And it is a huge issue that many people have been trying to solve.”
It is increasingly important that loads go only to drivers who can complete the delivery without exceeding their hours of operation.
“There is a feeling now the load boards are going to have to take some form of liability if they are parsing out loads to drivers who don’t have enough hours,” said Prusinski.
Fleet Complete recently increased its workforce by 10 per cent to keep up with demand for the electronic logs developed by BigRoad. It now employs 500 people.
Between 130,000 and 140,000 truckers are using its electronic logs.
Those drivers are natural customers for BlackBerry Radar, said Prusinski.
BlackBerry Radar provides real-time information on the interior of the big trailers.
“It is the only hardware business left in BlackBerry,” said Philip Poulidis, the Waterloobased company’s senior-vicepresident for the Internet of Things and BlackBerry Radar.
When integrated with Fleet Complete’s technology, BlackBerry Radar will help keep trailers full, he said.
“This maximizes the revenue for the driver, maximizes revenue for the trailer company, for the carrier and even offers discounts for the shippers along the way,” said Poulidis.
The trucking industry uses something called detention fees. After a trailer is delivered to a site and is unloaded, the receiver is supposed to notify the carrier right away. If the trailer sits there empty for too long, that receiver has to pay the carrier a detention fee.
“These trailers can stay there for a number of hours and in some cases even days,” said Poulidis. “That makes it very inefficient for the carrier.”
BlackBerry Radar automatically alerts the carrier that the doors on a trailer have been opened, and when it is empty.
The data generated by the big rigs decked out with sensors connected to the internet is also going to be huge. For example, Fleet Complete staff will see exactly where a lot of trucks are hitting the brakes. Information about traffic snarls, icy patches and highway closures can be shared with other truckers.
“The data itself is proving to be incredibly valuable,” said Prusinski.