Dan Brennan, the Vice President of Technology of Transystems LLC. says that choosing AssetWorks Field Service Solutions (FSS) with the rugged Ranger mobile computer for their fleet of 400 vehicles was all about ease of use, custom integrations, and cultural fit.
Headquartered in Great Falls, Montana, Transystems began in 1942 with two employees and two trucks and is now a leading provider of bulk commodities transportation in the Midwest and the Western United States. Transystems grows with a commitment to their vision of being recognized for their service, dependability, safety, and dedication to their core values.
Addressing the Need for a New Solution
Before investing in AssetWorks’ hardware and software solutions, Transystems used two other companies for in-cab mobile computing and fleet management, but large parts of these solutions did not work. These systems relied heavily on driver involvement to function, so they were susceptible to errors. “The margin of error and accuracy wasn’t as good as it could be, and we wanted to be able to automate our processes,” said Brennan.
Why AssetWorks FSS was the Right Vendor for Transystems
A Custom Approach
In the initial discussions between Transystems and AssetWorks, Dan said that he was impressed by the entire sales process. Dan worked directly with Mike Koebel, Sales Director. He said, “Mike asked about what our unique needs are, rules that we have and what value we are looking for in a solution. Then, Mike described AssetWorks FSS, which was a valuable experience. Competitors offer blanket promises about money savings, but those generic numbers don’t apply to everyone. Mike was interested in learning from the beginning about what custom functionality we need for our fleet to automate our processes.”
A Company Culture of Innovation and Trust
When reviewing vendors, Brennan says Transystems wanted to work with a company that shares the same value system. One of Transystems critical core values is trust.
Benefits from AssetWorks FSS
After installing Ranger – the rugged mobile computer solution from AssetWorks FSS – Transystems has realized many benefits.
Capturing Data with Custom Solutions
Instead of relying on numerous hardware devices to capture information, with customizations and integrations to Transystems, Ranger can do it all. “We can do a lot with AssetWorks, and we don’t have to worry about numerous connection points that can fail,” Brennan said.
Capturing this information required custom work to take a complicated process and make it easy to understand, and the AssetWorks FSS team rose to the challenge. “95% of companies have a cookie-cutter approach, but for us, this does not work. We would’ve had many workarounds or employees translating information. The custom integration allowed AssetWorks to give us nearly everything that we needed,” Brennan said.
Ranger keeps track of every load that a company moves, and creates pay records for the driver of each unit. This functionality helps to improve a driver’s day and improves earning potential because drivers are paid by the load. Additionally, Ranger monitors real-time efficiencies with the customer product flow and automates payroll and billing to the customers providing endless benefits to all parties involved.
Customer Care Team
To make their complex process easy to understand, Transystems heavily relied on the AssetWorks customer care team to deliver the custom functionality to meet their needs. “Everyone on the AssetWorks team is fantastic to work with, are good at what they do, and they are interested in helping us succeed,” Brennan said.
In Compliance
Ranger monitors hours of service and has fully compliant driver log automation to make legislative compliance effortless.
“Even though some of our trucks have DOT exemptions, we have an internal policy to follow hours of services regulations. We don’t have to worry that our drivers are working too many hours because Ranger tracks all the information. We have excellent FMSCA ratings, and if we were using paper logs, this would be nearly impossible to show,” Brennan said.
Better Customer Service
Due to custom integrations, Transystems can provide services to their clients that they couldn’t before. “One customer, for example, can see the delivery flow mix into their factory, and use that information to adjust their processes. We quickly provide information to our customers, and it’s a value-add that we bring. Transportation is typically thought of as only an additional cost, but because of the information that we deliver from Ranger to our customers, we add value,” Brennan said.
Moving Forward
Currently, Transystems is working on implementing AssetWorks Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIR) to make driver vehicle inspections easier and to improve vehicle safety. With tailored vehicle inspection points, they can generate different inspection lists depending on vehicle types.
Brennan also sees the benefit of Driver Coaching because it provides real-time notifications to the driver to help correct undesired driver behavior, such as harsh braking and acceleration, idling and speeding.
Transystems will continue to add enhancements to Ranger to send as much real-time information to their employees as possible, which means that efficiency and service will continue to increase.
For Transystems, effective field service software is about more than just numbers—it’s about a positive relationship between two companies. By selecting AssetWorks FSS, a relationship was built on trust. This positive relationship will continue to grow, and AssetWorks FSS will continue to help Transystems stay committed to their core values while achieving the vision of being recognized for their service, dependability, and safety.