GE industry experts answer questions

Ask the Expert question: How can you help speed up everyday transactions and improve the "points of contact"
for drivers and carriers?

Chad Bailey, Regional Operations Manager, answers: I think everyone recognizes the need to automate as much as possible to make it easier for fleets to do business - and for drivers to be as productive as possible. To the extent that business transactions and legal requirements can be automated due to the in-cab devices, or the newer trailer-specific devices such as VeriWise™, that's one less thing for the driver or a fleet manager to have to worry about it.

There's also the matter of defects -- anytime you have people writing down information on paper and handing it in, you have the possibility of it not being read properly as well as a longer cycle time. When you're doing the number of transactions we do each day, that time really adds up - both for our customer and ourselves. So when a method exists to gain the data in an automated fashion, well you really don't have an excuse -- you're wasting time if you don't take advantage of it -- and as they say, time is money.

The first point of contact for most carriers is in making a trailer reservation, or checking on the status of trailers they already have on rental or lease with us. More than 5 years ago GE was among the first in the industry to tie our back-end systems to a web interface on our trailerservices.com website. We call this our Premier Services tool.

What this means for instance, is that essentially we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for pre-registered customers to go online, and make a rental or lease reservation on a simple self-service application.

We do require a pre-registration to become a Premier Services member, but we've found that the convenience of having all the credit and background information on file speeds up the process for both the customer and ourselves, and the bottom line: they get their trailers faster.

In addition to just making a reservation, our Premier Services customers can actually enter the trailer number of the units they have on rental or lease with us and manage their inventory. They can see their entire rental fleet, how long each unit has been on lease, its rate, and the rental location. They can also check our available trailer inventory in a location.

For units equipped with VeriWise™ asset intelligence units, customers can come online to check the location of their trailer, whether its loaded/unloaded, and where its been, and how long a unit has been sitting. In regards to maintenance, Premier Services provides full maintenance data, the ability to do online approvals for us to perform needed work, and even photos of damage.

If you are looking to buy used trailers, you can quickly search our inventory online and then get connected with one of our sales reps to make the transaction. Premier Services also allows customers to easily request a copy of a vehicle registration, and fax it anywhere they want - even to a DOT scale house if needed.

GE also helps execute pick up and drop off transactions to get drivers in and out as quickly as possible.

First, there's no paperwork required for either inbound or outbound transactions. When a customer's driver enters the yard at one of our branches, they come to the counter with their reservation number, and for an outbound pick-up, it's typically a 5 to 10 minute transaction as we verify their identity and credentials. Due to the fact we usually know they're coming -- either from an online request or phone request -- their unit is ready for pick-up, and all the detailed work around terms and conditions has already been handled electronically. The Driver simply signs one receipt before leaving that acknowledges he has received the trailer in good condition.

When they return the trailer we have to check the unit for any damage, and our technician will do an inspection out in the yard with a handheld device that captures the relevant data, which can in turn be immediately entered into our database and available to the customer fleet manager via our web Premier Services interface.

We also use the handheld for maintenance inspections-- mechanics armed with this device can download electronic work orders into our customer workflow approval process, and obtain a purchase order number to proceed and to invoice.

These automated conveniences are just another way Trailer Fleet Services from GE can help carriers and private fleets stay productive, efficient and on the road.