Perkins Increases Loaded Miles

Perkins is an Indianapolis-based specialized carrier with 260 trucks and 800 trailers, making more than 2,500 stops every week. The backbone of their business is what Perkins’ Chief Operating Officer Greg Maiers calls “time definite” loads of unusual and often times delicate items, from one-of-a-kind trade show displays to cabinetry for 100 kitchens in a major home development. The Challenge After an extended period of double-digit growth, Perkins’ business had hit a plateau, with 24 months of about the same number of loads, customers and revenue.

The very nature of Perkins specialized business means that there are volume swings. Many of their loads aren’t recurring. However, because their deliveries are so time-critical, customers book many runs long in advance – from annual trade show dates to homebuilding timelines. Perkins saw the opportunity to fill more empty miles. The key was finding a way to quickly and easily visualize their future schedule.

Perkins turned to ResultsNow by TMW for the vision they needed to increase loaded miles. The ResultsNow dashboard provides real-time visibility of future loads, clearly showing gaps and opportunities. They review intermediate term plans, as well as short term opportunities, allowing them to fill loads in as little as a 24-72 hour timeframe. Says Maiers, “Now every day, in a simple 15-minute meeting, we know what we’re loading, where we might be short and places where we need to increase the velocity of the fleet or make customer solicitations. It’s a daily roadmap for how to grow the business and service customers better.”

While early use of ResultsNow has focused on load management, now Perkins is utilizing another key metric of success – loads per week per in-service driver. By tracking and managing by this Key Performance Indicator, Perkins will be expanding their efforts to fine tune their efficiency and load management. They have observed that there’s a direct connection between this KPI and driver satisfaction, so ResultsNow is also providing a powerful advantage in recruitment and retention.