Trans-System Transportation
For almost 50 years, Trans-System has been the parent corporation for three different operating companies: System Transport, TW Transport, and James J. Williams. With such a strong legacy of excellence in the transportation industry, it understands how important it is to use leading software solutions to optimize their daily transportation operations.
The challenge: Streamlining back office communication to improve fleet operations
Since Trans-System’s performance is dependent upon the success of its communication and real-time problem solving, many employees were overwhelmed with the vast amount of emails and notifications that they were receiving daily. In its old system, when a task needed attention, everyone in the entire division—and sometimes the entire company—would be notified. Beyond the complexity of its communication structure, finding the information needed to complete tasks was also a hassle.
Managers’ tasks included manually sifting through emails, spreadsheets, and other documents to retrieve information that was immediately needed. One of Trans-System’s main challenges was sitting down with its managers to determine which alerts needed to go to which people and what information was the most valuable to its business operations.
Efficient back office processes—such as providing accurate information, timely communication and effective resource allocation—are critical to ensuring that fleet operations run smoothly. Disconnected operations lead to delays, increased costs, compliance issues, reduced productivity and customer dissatisfaction, all of which negatively impact fleet operations.
The solution: Implementing a comprehensive transportation management system and fleet maintenance software
A few years ago, Trans-System transitioned to TMW.Suite and TMT Fleet Maintenance to improve efficiencies and problem solving for all three of its companies. TMW.Suite is a transportation management system (TMS) that helps companies manage business operations from the time an order is placed through final billing. Other benefits of the transportation software include: reducing out-of-route miles and empty miles, capturing load data, and optimizing shipping lanes, among others.
The utilization of TMW.Suite provides Trans-System with the option of compartmentalizing essential information needed for specific tasks into one dashboard, greatly improving transportation operations. By integrating TMW.Suite within its internal messaging application, Trans-System and its subsidiaries can be alerted of a problem, find the appropriate contact or their backup, and send notifications through different mediums if a task needs to be completed with urgency.
The system also maximizes the proficiency of their communication by giving users the choice to opt-out of certain notifications. By providing more personalization options for notifications, management can decide what information is important for their division every day, directly impacting fleet operations. Furthermore, supervisors are able to use the integration to TMW.Suite to create, track, report, and approve payments and billing without the hassle of cross-referencing time-stamps and tasks themselves. Even minor actions like knowing the location of a shipment or truck had major effects on the productivity of all three companies.
The Result: Improved operational efficiency and performance
“Moving from a legacy system to TMW.Suite was good for us,” said Corey Staheli, chief information officer of Trans-System. “It has been very helpful for us in delivering a lot of value and providing people with information at their fingertips.”
Trans-System has seen an improvement in the level of communications that goes on within its company, directly impacting transportation operations. In the first year following the implementation of their new transportation software, Trans-System saw a 75% reduction in the number of cargo claims. This is because the team and technicians were better equipped to monitor fleet maintenance and effectively communicate when issues were resolved. Trans-System attributes improvements in the evaluation of its daily operations and both internal and external communication to the integration of messaging into activities within TMW.Suite.
Trans-System and its subsidiaries are able to save time and money by assigning tasks to the appropriate members of the team to ensure that everyone is focused on what is important to them individually. Additionally, the ease of using TMW.Suite, paired with the transportation management software’s immense capabilities in all business procedures, made it possible for team members to receive constant updates on jobs without always relying on memory.
Trans-System used TMW.Suite combined with internal messaging to create a sophisticated notification system that routes the right messages to the right decision makers. This has resulted in efficiencies on the road, and reduced cargo claims by 75% during a 12-month period, demonstrating the power of leveraging technology for effective transportation management and proactive fleet maintenance management.
“Moving from a legacy system to TMW.Suite was good for us. It has been very helpful for us in delivering a lot of value and providing people with information at their fingertips.”
– Corey Staheli, Chief Information Officer, Trans-System.
Unlock your potential: The Trimble impact on transportation management
The transformative success experienced by Trans-System underscores Trimble's commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions that directly address the core challenges of modern transportation operations. By offering powerful transportation software that streamlines communication, optimizes fleet operations and enhances overall transportation management, Trimble empowers businesses to achieve tangible improvements in efficiency and profitability.
Whether you're seeking to enhance real-time visibility, improve internal collaboration, or gain greater control over your transportation management system, Trimble offers a comprehensive suite of tools and technology integration to help you navigate the complexities of today's logistics landscape.
Contact our team to discover how Trimble can partner with your organization to drive similar success and tailor our transportation software solutions for your unique needs.