Cost modeling software upgraded

The new version of the Cost Information System for truckload carriers (TL/CIS) improves tools for modeling the impact of customer or lane changes and a driver productivity report, according to Transportation Costing Group (TCG), the developer of activity-based costing and profitability management solutions for truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers.

The new version of TL/CIS is available at no additional charge for existing customers.

The new freight impact modeling feature reports on the impact of removing specific freight for a customer or lane. “It drills deeper under that scenario to show the opportunity for an increase or decrease in profitability,” said Ken Manning, president of TCG.

 The driver productivity report includes information on loaded and empty miles, hours, loads dropped and other related factors that can affect freight profitability. “This information can lead to effective decisions about driver hiring and training needs, an important part of carrier operations in today’s operating environment,” Manning said.

Other new features of TL/CIS include:

• Interfaces with ALK PCMiler to pull toll cost information when costing freight
• A new EZPass option that accepts two separate source files to obtain actual toll payments and links them to the specific freight
• Lane defaults that include the ratio of driven miles to direct miles when multiple drivers are involved
• Purchased transportation overhead percentages added to the unit cost comparison report and generated automatically each time unit costs are calculated
• Monthly temperature control costs to avoid making ongoing seasonal changes by applying hourly reefer fuel expenses to freight requiring temperature control
• Expanded mileage parameter checks to better guard against using incorrect mileages without dropping valid miles.