March/April 1989
Those roll-off containers, luggers, and semitrailers your truck drivers haul are assets … you don’t want to lose them. Find out what Frank Cozzi, owner of more than 3,000 pieces of transport equipment, does to keep track of his truck fleet and handle container overload.
By Frank J. Cozzi
Frank J. Cozzi is chairman of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Transportation Committee, and is secretary-treasurer and vice president of operations of Cozzi Iron & Metal, Inc., Chicago.
With roll-off containers, luggers, and semitrailers costing as much as they do, it's important to keep track of where you put these assets. You may ask, How can anyone lose something so big? Well, I can tell you at least three ways it has happened to me. Because of the difficulty in identifying containers, they are susceptible to theft. Also, a customer's factory may shut down--a factory where you may have dropped containers. One of our customers was closed down for five months before we realized we had a container on his site; we needed a bankruptcy court release to retrieve it. And simply forgetting where you put a piece of equipment is possible without some kind of tracking method.
As Cozzi Iron & Metal has grown, we have recognized the need to control the whereabouts of these assets. At different stages in our growth we have used different methods of control. Early on, when we had fewer than 500 containers, we used a manual system. The dispatcher recorded a container number and date below a customer name on a control board hanging on the wall. We found the control board to be a very useful visual aid-we could see what was where at a glance.
As our customer list grew, however, the control boards became too cumbersome. In fact, we ran out of wall space to hang them on. The need for computerization was apparent.
Our dispatch personnel, Terri Freeman and Steve Chiarito, who both had some experience with computers, got a good deal more when they developed our on-line computer system. It was designed to not only keep track of our trucks' activities but also keep track of our assets' locations. Every time a truck driver left our facility or a customer's site, he radioed in; a dispatcher immediately entered into the computer information on his location and the container numbers he was handling.
This worked for a while, but, many new customers later, we found that our computer system could not keep up with our dispatchers. There was too much information being entered at one time. We decided another type of computer system was needed.
We brought in computer consultants, who analyzed what we were doing and studied the flow of trucks and containers. We bought a new, mainframe-based computer system. (Our asset-locater system is just part of our overall computerized dispatching system, which provides us with accounting and truck driver information as well.) We enhanced our software to provide us with the data sorts and reports we needed. Now we can review reports organized by customer name, container number, and date.
Here's how the new system works in day-to-day operations. The driver has a daily report on which he records his customer activities. At each site the driver records the container numbers picked up and dropped off. As usual, he radios this information in to the dispatcher. The dispatcher' records it on master dispatch sheets. The next day, a clerk collects the drivers' sheets and the dispatchers' sheets, enters all the information into the computer, and compares it for discrepancies.
Periodically, we run reports to determine the status of our container assets. For example, if we sort data by date we can determine whether a container has been at a site too long; perhaps the amount of business that customer generates doesn't warrant a container that large. The reports provide us with more control over all our assets and make it easier to manage each customer account.
So what about our old control boards? We learned they do have merit. While computer screens and printed reports can give us the details, the control boards provide our dispatchers with the big picture. Currently we're using both: we use the computer program to track dump hoppers and load-lugger containers, and the control boards for larger pieces of equipment like roll-offs and semitrailers. We use a numbering system for our containers, so the dispatcher simply checks the control board to locate, say, a closed-van-type trailer if he needs one.
The transition from a manual system to an integrated one was fairly smooth. The computer experience our two dispatchers had when they started the on-line system was broadened as they developed it. The dispatchers who used that system were provided with on-the-job training; our active fleet helped them learn fast. When we installed our current system, it was an easy step up for our already computer-literate staff.
Because of this combination of methods, we're covered in the event of a computer malfunction. We have tangible backup in the form of drivers' activity sheets, dispatcher sheets, and the control boards.
Since the computer is primarily used for periodic reports, daily functions aren't severely upset when it's down. It's never down for more than a few days, so some catch-up work is all that's needed to get us back up-to-date.
Your asset-control system depends on the size of your business and your plans for the future. Control board systems are efficient for small fleets and as a visual summary of certain container types. If you have several hundred containers, or have growth in mind, a computer is a good idea. Asset-locater software is readily available from several companies. It's always a good idea to use an additional tool: the account executive doing a periodic physical inventory at each customer's location. Currently, Cozzi Iron & Metal uses all these systems for controlling more than 3,000 pieces of equipment (not including dump hoppers) at almost 2,000 scrap-generating locations.
Regardless of the size of your fleet, not knowing where your equipment is can be very costly. But if using a computerized tracking system keeps you from losing one roll-off container or one semitrailer, it's already paid for itself. •
Those roll-off containers, luggers, and semitrailers your truck drivers haul are assets … you don’t want to lose them. Find out what Frank Cozzi, owner of more than 3,000 pieces of transport equipment, does to keep track of his truck fleet and handle container overload.