Heniff Transportation Systems Recognized as a 2023 Trimble Ovation Award Winner

As we announced last year, a number of Trimble’s transportation and logistics customers were recognized in our 2023 Ovation Awards for their innovation and industry leadership. And with those awards, we had the opportunity to speak with the winners to discuss their business, the technology behind their innovation and how they’re growing toward the future.

Heniff Transportation Systems, LLC, was honored with a win in the category of “Automation All-Stars: Best in Improving Overall Efficiencies.” This award recognizes companies that have harnessed the power of technology to automate business processes, eliminate paperwork and reduce human oversight.

With more than 2,000 tractors and 100 locations across the United States, Heniff’s logistics operations produce a tremendous amount of data while providing services at every stage of the supply chain. But as they’ve continued to grow, it became more apparent they needed a rapidly scalable and fault-resistant digital infrastructure that could be maintained in an efficient manner. They wanted to work with technology providers to provide their drivers an enriched application-driven experience on the road, complete with real-time visibility, automated workflows, data collection and fully electronic proof of delivery process. 

“Heniff was looking for a way to first harness the power of technology, improve the driver experience, provide better real-time information, and improve efficiency and increase accuracy within our back office,” said Joe Neal, Chief Technology Officer for Heniff. 

On top of the driver experience, it was critical for Heniff to be able to streamline their order processing workflows and enhance customer billing, driver payroll and order and exception visibility. For all of this and more, they turned to Trimble’s team of experts and portfolio of solutions for help. In conjunction with technology consulting firm, BDO Digital, Heniff worked to implement Trimble’s Instinct driver and back office workflow solution. 

Heniff then sought to maximize the benefits of the Microsoft Azure platform on which Trimble’s solutions are built by integrating their data sources into various components of their TMS and driver applications through the Cloud. 

“With Trimble’s success stories and shared roadmaps, as well as Azure cloud and security experts Heniff was able to fully convert all systems from an on-premise hosted environment to full cloud in under 6 months,” said Neal.

By implementing Instinct, Heniff was able to custom build a driver-focused application tailored to their business and which provided drivers a streamlined workflow experience with all daily and weekly tasks at their fingertips. This application now serves as the center around which all driver activities revolve, providing workflows, information management, training materials, and critical communications with the back office. 

“With Trimble’s help, our new mobile application and driver experience was fully integrated into both TMW.Suite TMS, TMT Fleet Maintenance and our payroll systems,” said Neal.

As a result of all these improvements, Heniff took a major step toward transforming operations and improving driver performance. Their IT infrastructure has become more resilient than ever, with a major reduction in outages and uptime averages exceeding 99%. 

“We've significantly reduced the costs it takes to 'keep the lights on', and have also reduced the manpower it needs to keep our systems running so our technology professionals can instead focus on projects and initiatives that can add additional value,” says Neal.

And by combining Instinct with their mobile application, Heniff has improved time from shipment delivery to billing by over 75%. This has also reduced the amount of calls and questions from drivers related to orders and payroll, and have made their billing and settlements team more efficient. 

“We're willing to invest the time and resources needed today to solve challenges that will pay off down the road,” says Neal. “We love to listen and gain experience from our industry peers, Trimble, and our trusted third party valued partners. We have a relentless drive to continuously improve and be better.”

We’re honored to support transportation leaders like Heniff Transportation Systems, LLC. Contact our team to learn more about how Trimble’s solutions can help improve your fleet’s safety.