Less time lost at weigh stations keeps drivers happy, saves money, expediter finds

Aug. 27, 2017

Makes good sense: expedited trucking fleet Load One has found that helping its trucks and drivers stay out of weigh station lines helps with recruiting and retention and saves real money, too.

Aaron Marsh

Makes good sense: an expedited trucking fleet has found that helping its trucks and drivers stay out of weigh station lines helps with recruiting and retention and saves real money, too.

Time is of the essence for all trucking companies, but that's especially the case for Load One, which runs 400 trucks and offers expedited truckload services and specialized freight transportation in the 48 contiguous states and Canada. The company's setup is particular, with 95% of its drivers independently contracted owner-operators.

Load One has used Omnitracs fleet management systems in its trucks since 2008, according to a case study of the fleet, and decided to add Omnitracs' Weigh Station Bypass to its suite of services. The add-on is an integrated version of Drivewyze's Preclear app that alerts truck drivers when they're approaching weigh stations and inspection sites and offers bypass services at nearly 700 sites in 43 states and provinces.

Thus Weigh Station Bypass was a simple add-on to Load One's existing telematics platform, and doing so has helped the fleet realize a number of benefits. Load One trucks are now bypassing 80% of weigh stations and cut down roadside inspections by more than half, from some 21 per month to just 10.

"We use this technology as a recruiting tool," said Matthew Kowalczyk, a recruiting, safety and compliance associate at Load One. He formerly worked at the trucking company as a technician and installer for the Omnitracs systems.

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Load One highlights its use of those systems and Weigh Station Bypass in recruitment brochures. "We explain to our recruits that it saves them money, fuel and time," Kowalczyk noted in the case study. "They also see the immediate benefit of not having to pull into every weigh station and deal with the officers."

The Drivewyze-powered app has paid off for Load One, with the company seeing about $23,000 savings per month due to reduced fuel costs and time lost. Drivewyze includes analytics tools that calculate savings from avoiding stops at weigh stations and inspection sites.

Also, since Load One drivers already were using Omnitracs in-cab terminals for driver logs, Weigh Station Bypass runs on the same hardware rather than requiring anything additional.

Overall, driver productivity and retention has increased at Load One, which touts its "extremely low" turnover rate. Weigh Station Bypass has also helped boost the company's safety scores, and all the efficiency and time gains have added up by improving customer service.

"If a product will help us all be more efficient and allow our independent contractors to save money, we jump at the offer," Kowalczyk said.

Visit www.omnitracs.com or www.drivewyze.com for more information.

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He wrote about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined FleetOwner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he was a keeper of knowledge at FleetOwner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all-around trucking—and still turned a wrench or two. Or three.

Aaron previously wrote for FleetOwner.