Category: "efficiencies"

02/28/09

  10:19:45 am, Categories: efficiencies , Tags: deadhead, revenue per mile

Does excessive deadhead mileage really affect the bottom line?

I know, I know that’s a stupid question, but hopefully I got your attention. The answer is simple: "Yes! In fact, all deadhead mileage affects the bottom line not just excessive deadhead."

How do you track your deadhead mileage? Do you have an extensive spreadsheet that someone manually enters mileage information into from the driver’s trip envelope, logs or driver comments? Or, do you have all of your mileage information written down on a pad of paper or notebook that you go to each time a driver calls or you receive his paperwork? Perhaps you have software that tracks some of your mileages but not all of them? Or perhaps, you just throw up your hands and say, "This is such a headache, I just tell my drivers to do the very best they can at keeping the deadhead to a minimum!", and then report all of their odometer miles as loaded on your quarterly IFTA report?

So the real question is, “How do I eliminate or at least control the deadhead mileage my trucks are running?” The answer is simple, TM2000 by TruckMaster Logistics Systems. It is the perfect program for tracking and helping you reduce your deadhead miles.

TM2000 allows you to designate what legs of a trip are loaded or empty. With automatic route calculating, TM2000 determines a default route from any point in the US, Canada or Mexico to any other point or points in any of these countries. The software will even determine if there is a need for deadhead miles to be calculated between trips and give you the opportunity to accept or decline the suggested deadhead mileage. TM2000 allows you to set a maximum number of deadhead miles between trips and warns the dispatcher when any trip is scheduled for a truck that would force the truck to travel more than the maximum deadhead miles.

Since TM2000 lets you pre-plan trips for all of your trucks, it gives you the tools you need to monitor the deadhead miles between trips and help you make decisions that will minimize the amount of deadhead miles your trucks are forced to run.

There are a number of states in the US that now offer IFTA tax breaks for deadhead mileages. (Running empty on highways means less wear and tear, so these states are willing to share with the trucking company the reduced cost of road repair.) Since IFTA reporting is easy with TM2000, deadhead mileage is quickly identified and reported accordingly, saving you even more money on your IFTA reports.

Let your dispatchers do what you hired them to do – load trucks and make money. Take the guess work out of trip routing, deadhead calculation and IFTA reporting with the software package designed to help you make the best of transportation management – TruckMaster Logistics Systems’ TM2000. Call 888-891-9550 or visit our website today for a free demo. Let us show you how to take the worry out of all routing and deadhead mileage issues.

Dale Clark
TruckMaster Solution Provider
TruckMaster Your Trucking Company™

::

March 2024
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
 << <   > >>
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31            
An ongoing discussion of trucking software. Things to watch for, things to watch out for.

Search

  XML Feeds

powered by b2evolution