How Connected Transport Can Help Equipment Rental Companies Deal with a Shortage of CDL Drivers and Reduce the Cost of Third-Party Hauling

Tony Tye

CDL drivers are in high demand. For an independent rental business, it can be particularly challenging to find and KEEP reliable drivers for daily pickups and deliveries. Some parties are turning to third-party haulers instead, but external logistics contractors come with a hefty price tag.

Making sure to “right-size” your team of drivers is more important than ever, but that’s only one component. Most equipment rental companies are primarily concerned – and rightfully so! – about getting deliveries to their customers as quickly as possible. However, when busy dispatchers are planning their routes manually, that speed often comes at the cost of efficiency. If it’s fastest to get Machine A to Customer A by putting it on Driver A’s truck, then that’s what’s done – even if Driver B is already planning to bring Machine B to Customer B a few miles down the street later in the afternoon.

Experienced dispatchers may catch the geographic proximity of both delivery sites in the example above. However, they may be in such a rush to get their CDL driver out on the road that they don’t stop to consider which pickups a driver may be able to make on the way back. If Machine C has been awaiting pickup at Jobsite C 10 miles away from Customer B, Driver B can retrieve that machine on the way back instead of making the return trip empty-handed. The rental company will then avoid paying for an entirely separate trip out to Jobsite C just to pick up that machine.

These examples also only consider the physical locations of the jobsites and drivers. The dispatching puzzle also gets more complicated when considering the weights and dimensions of each rental asset, along with the size and weight capacities of each delivery truck. A busy dispatcher may look at all these variables and – despite their best efforts – quickly become overwhelmed, resorting back to the path of least resistance at the expense of true efficiency.

How Connected Transport Helps Optimize Driver Routes

Connected Transport, however, lets AI take care of these complicated calculations I the background. From there, dispatchers can more easily provide their CDL drivers with the most cost-, fuel-, and time-efficient routes. A small but mighty team of in-house drivers can make more pickups and deliveries in less time, reducing or even eliminating the need for third-party haulers or additional hires.

InTempo CTX - the first Connected Transport solution designed specifically for the rental industry – helps equipment rental companies plan and execute the most efficient routes for their drivers. More gets done in a shorter amount of time – and you can easily track driver compliance data, such as how long they have been on the road and which drivers need to take breaks or go home. It’s an innovative, scalable way to keep your delivery and pickup operations running smoothly and proficiently.

Hear what Tony Tye with InTempo and Rob Hawkins with Wise Systems have to say about InTempo CTX – Connected Transport Solution at our User Conference.

Want to find out for yourself how InTempo CTX can help you more efficiently leverage your CDL drivers and reduce the cost of third-party hauling? Contact us or request a demo here.