LeanLogistics launches integrated fleet module

The new module allows blended optimization of fleet and dedicated capacity with for-hire capacity in a single workflow through the transportation management software provider’s flagship LeanTMS product.    The transportation management software provider LeanLogistics on Tuesday unveiled a new module aimed at allowing users to manage their for-hire carriers and private or dedicated fleets on one platform.
   The new module, called LeanFleet, is designed to let companies optimize their transportation needs across the various capacity options available to them. In a briefing with LeanLogistics Monday, the company said the new tool is targeted specifically at shippers that use a blended transportation strategy with both contract carriers and private fleets.
   The tool is not strictly a fleet management system, though it can be used by companies that need such a system.
   “There are fewer rather than more solutions that can support a blended transportation strategy,” Lisa Kerr, LeanLogistics’ director of commercial intelligence, said during the briefing.
   The tool is not a separate product, but integrates into the company’s flagship transportation management system, LeanTMS. It would allow a shipper to systematize decisions on which capacity to assign a load to across its for-hire, private fleet, or dedicated options, and then execute on those plans. For instance, constraints could be configured to bias certain loads to move by private fleet (such as those that are more customer-service oriented), while simpler loads would be sent to contract carriers.
   The optimization can take into account not only rates, but also the investment associated with operating a private fleet versus using contract capacity. The tool’s driver assignment function uses a scoring algorithm to weigh information such as the driver’s current location, personal calendar, and hours of service.
   Shippers can integrate the on-board telematics from their fleet into the TMS, and automate updates on a driver’s arrival and departure based on geo-fencing. The module also allows load details to be transmitted to the TMS.
   LeanLogistics has been piloting the program since late fall with a couple customers, including the furniture manufacturer and retailer Ashley Furniture, which operates a private fleet of more than 600 trucks. Chief among the company’s goals was to translate the “tribal knowledge” of its private fleet usage into a system to evaluate efficiency.
   During the briefing, LeanLogistics officials said one-third of its current customers have private fleet operations, and 10 percent use dedicated fleets. Half of the software provider’s sales pipeline are weighing the need for dedicated or private fleets.
   The use of private or dedicated fleets is expected to grow as shippers seek to ensure capacity is available to them in the event of a predicted driver shortage in North America.
   LeanLogistics earlier this month released another module, LeanGlobal, which helps shippers manage international transportation in the same platform as their domestic modes.