The information superhighway runs two ways. Internet users can gather astonishing amounts of information. By the same token, sometimes inadvertently, but mostly by choice, web site visitors provide a valuable trail of data about themselves. The more interactive the web site, the more information about its user is usually collected.
Collecting information about visitors is not sinister, although discussions about Internet privacy often have made it seem so. In fact, it is no different than the interaction a customer in any retail encounter might have in person with a sales representative. In a sense, collecting information about Internet users is simply good customer service. The more any vendor knows about its customers, the better it can tailor goods and services to meet customer needs.
At the retail consumer level, especially on auction sites, Internet shoppers tend to guard personal information jealously. However, sites that cater to businesses need customer information. Successful business depends on building relationships, forging ties that bring the same group of customers back time and again. Auction sites might be able to survive with one-time customers, but most businesses need the continuity that comes with customer loyalty.
Three new web sites from Freightliner Corporation that will launch early in 2001 illustrate this essential mix of providing information while collecting customer data. The sites are intended to support sales and service operations for Freightliner, Sterling, and Western Star trucks and its truckstop partner, TravelCenters of America.
A sales presence on the Internet fits squarely in the core of Freightliner's mission, which is to provide superior products and parts as well as supporting truck operators in all aspects of their business, says James L Hebe, president and CEO. "These sites are evidence of our commitment to support our customers and to invest in the latest technology for their benefit."
One of the new sites is primarily an information source for visitors. The other two offer parts and service sales. While Hebe believes that Freightliner and other manufacturers should offer parts and service from Internet sites, he is much less willing to accept the presence of third party sites for the same purpose. He views them as direct competitors and questions why any manufacturer would cooperate with third party service and parts auction sites.
Hebe also has doubts about the ability of third party auction sites to deliver on a consistent basis. He applies what he calls the Big Toe Test to other sites, saying that the ability of an Internet site to deliver goods such as truck parts is directly related to the amount of pain the ordered object would cause the buyer if dropped on a foot. "The more pain a part would cause, the less likely an Internet vendor is to provide satisfactory service, because such sites lack the infrastructure of dealerships and, in Freightliner's case, a chain of truckstop partners to deliver and install the parts," he says.
The three linked sites are MyTruck.com, MyTruckShop.com, and Dream Machine. Web addresses are www.mytruck.com, www.mytruckshop.com, and www.d-machine.com.
MyTruck.com is both a destination site and an Internet portal. Designed to provide information and services to the owner of any make of truck, it offers access to service manuals and dealer directories along with maps and weather data. MyTruck.com will provide news, both general and trucking related, and can search for travel and entertainment information by destination.
Freightliner says that logging onto the Internet while on the road has an associated cost and is not always easy. MyTruck.com has been streamlined to provide as much to users as possible in a simple format.
In a password-protected section called Trucker Tools, the site provides customized routing and up-to-date weather reports for all parts of the US and Canada. It allows trucks to search for entertainment along the route. This function can be customized with a personal calendar that provides notice of upcoming events. It also flags upcoming trucking events such as trade shows. These events can be sorted to match a driver's schedule. One of the Trucker Tools is a section called Community where drivers can share information and opinions with each other and with family members. This section has several searchable categories.
Registered users of MyTruck.com can customize information to their own priorities such as Trucking news about business and other related subjects, or Trucker Life which has topics on family life, health, hobbies, travel, and entertainment. The site also provides general headline news and sports information.
MyTruckShop.com focuses on truck service and repair and can help drivers schedule maintenance and repair appointments, provides notice of component recalls and warranty campaigns, and provides reminders of regularly scheduled preventive maintenance. On-Line Manuals provides links to Freightliner and Sterling maintenance manuals. In a section called Truckshop Tools, the site helps drivers identify the type of repair needed along with a list of Freightliner, Sterling, and Western Star dealers and TravelCenters truckstops. Under Service History, drivers can enter truck maintenance records and track vehicle performance, calculating cost-per-mile for one or several vehicles. Under Vehicle List, a visitor can view a list of all the trucks the user is tracking on MyTruckShop.com. Users can store information about commonly traveled routes with mileage and estimated travel time on a Route List, and Notes provides a place for reminders and to-do lists. Preferences allows MyTruckShop.com to be customized to individual needs.
Dream Machine is essentially a catalog for truck parts and accessories. It will provide information on 1,000 parts that can be viewed on the Web. The first version of Dream Machine will provide parts numbers, descriptions, and a dealer locator for ordering parts from the nearest dealer. An advance version of the site already under development will add a shopping cart that allows drivers to make online purchases. Parts ordered from Dream Machine will be delivered to the operator's local dealer or a convenient location to be picked up en route.
All three sites are linked together and to the primary sites of Freightliner, Sterling, and Western Star. The sites are live, but some parts are still under construction.
Obviously none of these sites can provide the level of customization promised if users do not provide the information. If information is provided, Freightliner will have a rich source of data to help make their services more useful to customers.
ArvinMeritor Plans to Enhance Web Site ArvinMeritor will be launching an enhanced aftermarket global e-commerce web site for distributors and OEM dealers in late 2000. The site is an enhancement of Xpressway CD, an electronic catalog featuring details and photos of more than 100,000 ArvinMeritor commercial vehicle aftermarket products.
Initial services on the site will include stock/emergency orders for Meritor or Euclid brand parts. During the first phase of the program, all users can browse the online version of the parts catalog. Order placement will be limited to authorized parts outlets with valid ID, password, and customer profile on record. Subsequent stages of the system, which will integrate ArvinMeritor light vehicle aftermarket products, will offer more ordering options for OEM customers and access for Canadian customers.
GoComchek.com to Debut Comdata Corp has unveiled its web site GoComchek.com, a real-time fuel price, routing, and highway amenities resource. Comdata said the site, scheduled for official online debut in January 2001, will be offered free indefinitely to all segments of the trucking industry.
GoComchek.com will be linked in real-time to the company's network of more than 8,000 truckstops and service centers, allowing users to access the last-transacted Comchek fuel purchase price at each location. The site also will calculate and display net-state fuel tax prices per gallon for each stop.
The site will also offer search engines allowing users to find fueling locations or nearby merchants by city, state, amenity type, or facility name. Another feature of GoComchek.com includes entire route searches by interstate or interstate direction.
@Road Inc Expands Messaging Capabilities @Road Inc has new messaging services designed to complement its mobile resource management solution, FleetASAP, which offers location to within 30 meters, monitoring, messaging, reporting, and scheduling capabilities for fleets. The new offering includes:
- Messaging Basic: Enables two-way, free-text messaging between dispatcher and driver, as well as the ability to select pre-programmed, user-defined messages. Messaging Basic also features the ability to generate online and/or downloadable reports of outbound and inbound messages.
- Messaging Plus: Includes all features of Messaging Basic, with the addition of user-defined forms that can be used in the field to complete and send out invoices, receipts, and order forms. Online, downloadable reporting capabilities include reports on all forms sent and received, sorted by vehicle, and work flow status reports that provide real-time status of all vehicles.
- iDT 2500 and keyboard: New Internet data terminal supports Messaging Basic and Messaging Plus, and features three serial ports for peripherals, including the optional keyboard.