Most of the constraints that affect freight optimisation are never captured centrally on many operators’ systems. That’s largely because all of that detailed information is not in one place. Most likely, some of it is in a routing and scheduling maths engine, while more of it may reside in a transport management system (TMS). When two separate systems have to talk to one another, the result is rarely optimal. Basically, unless the huge list of required entries is fed correctly into the routing and scheduling system it cannot deliver everything it needs to, which usually results in optimisation that is: a) wrong, or b) correct, but not as efficient as it should be. In short, it can end up being a textbook case of garbage in, garbage out.
Our approach to optimising optimisation itself was to build a routing and scheduling engine entirely within our CarrierNet TMS so that the exchange of all that information - down to the finest details - is conducted in a seamless manner, resulting in the most finely-tuned freight transport optimisation possible. For instance, data such as vehicle and driver details (inc. to Euro 6 and Euro 3 standard (sorry, Brexiteers!)) are meticulously recorded within the TMS for feeding internally through to the routing and scheduling engine so that optimisation can take place as quickly and efficiently as possible.
In fact, we maintain that efficiencies and cost savings made in this way means a freight operator can happily give their truckers pay rises! They can pay for it via increased efficiencies due to the use of a cutting edge TMS. Really, we are not kidding. And optimisation is not the whole of it either - just watch this space ...
Meanwhile, if you're a freight operator that suspects your load optimisation is not all it should be, contact Bashir Khan here.