Technology

PeopleNet honors innovative customers

Aug. 13, 2012

PeopleNet wrapped up the final evening of its 10^th annual User Conference last week by presenting its 2012 Innovator of the Year Awards. The company gives the awards to fleets that demonstrate exceptional leadership in using PeopleNet to create unique solutions that accelerate/drive return on investment (ROI).

Holiday Companies took the honors in the Under 100 trucks category. The company integrated PeopleNet with its Lawson payroll system and reaped a six-figure ROI. PeopleNet Professional Services group helped Holiday automate its cumbersome, manual payroll process, which relied heavily on hard copy and data entry.

Saddle Creek Logistics Services garnered the award in the 100 to 500 trucks category, by logging a number of firsts for compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks with PeopleNet, including recording miles-per-gallon (mpg) data using Vehicle Management and filing International Fuel Tax Association (IFTA) reports using Fuel Tax Reporting. The company was also instrumental in PeopleNet’s development of a program in which the onboard computer converts natural gas consumed by the engine to diesel equivalent gallons, so a comparative report can run to compare fuel metrics across their entire fleet of mixed vehicles (diesel and CNG)—mpg, idle, power take-off (PTO) and others.

The Grocery and Food Service divisions of McLane Company, Inc. took the award in the 500 Plus category. The divisions installed 2,300 PeopleNet in-cab computers with Wi-Fi. They developed a number of customized reports from raw data pulled from the PeopleNet Link on its network. PeopleNet’s Tailored Solutions group has built several reports and programs for McLane, including an hours-available projection report and a report to track adherence to specialized state labor regulations.
Contrans Group walked away with the award for Canadian fleets this year. Among other things, the company was instrumental in working with NaviGo to develop its Fuel Ahead program, which points the driver to the closest fuel stops offering the best prices. They also extended the use of in-cab scanning by integrating ACS scanners with its border-crossing process to ensure that documents arrive at the border before their trucks in order to meet regulations.

The awards were presented by Randy Boyles, vice president of tailored solutions at a customer appreciation dinner. “Our user conference is a unique time when all of our customers have the opportunity to benefit from the successes of others,” he said. “It is an ideal backdrop for recognizing customers who have led the way in getting the most out of their technology investment. We are grateful to Contrans Corporation, Holiday Companies, McLane Companies, and Saddle Creek Logistics Services for sharing their creative, pioneering contributions.”

About the Author

Wendy Leavitt

Wendy Leavitt joined Fleet Owner in 1998 after serving as editor-in-chief of Trucking Technology magazine for four years.

She began her career in the trucking industry at Kenworth Truck Company in Kirkland, WA where she spent 16 years—the first five years as safety and compliance manager in the engineering department and more than a decade as the company’s manager of advertising and public relations. She has also worked as a book editor, guided authors through the self-publishing process and operated her own marketing and public relations business.

Wendy has a Masters Degree in English and Art History from Western Washington University, where, as a graduate student, she also taught writing.