Electronic logging devices (ELDs) contain lots of useful information about drivers and loads—so it was only a matter of time until that info started getting parsed out and used in new ways, like increasing utilization.
Supply chain data aggregation company GateHouse Logistics and Cargo Chief, a third-party logistics (3PL) technology provider, are looking to do exactly that.
GateHouse's ghTrack service tracks data from carriers across all modes of transportation, and that data will help inform Cargo Chief's 3PL freight- and carrier-matching solutions to identify where there are empty trucks ready to drive a load and alert brokers and carriers of trucks' availability.
"Every year, American trucks travel at less than market rates or even empty for nearly half of their billion miles on our highways," contended Russell Jones, CEO of Cargo Chief. Integrating ghTrack data and Cargo Chief solutions will "provide brokers and transport companies with information in real time about trucks in specific areas that are intelligently paired with available loads."
Jones also pointed to ghTrack enabling tracking of truckload shipments. In response to an inquiry from Fleet Owner, he noted that carriers would need to opt in to receive these "intelligent" load offers from their large named broker customers but they may be likely to do so, given the potential business it could represent.
"Not all will say yes, but we think it makes financial sense," Jones said. "We think many or most will [opt in], especially when the market balances out."
