Article

Kiosks keep on truckin'

Looking for the next load? Eager to earn free perks? Trucking-related companies are discovering the benefits of using kiosks to promote their services.

February 24, 2004

For trucker David Edwards, a truck that is not moving is a fiscal liability.

"Whenever these wheels aren't turning I'm not making any money," said Edwards, who is based in Houston. "But I'm still running up expenses."

For Edwards, who hauls everything from oil well equipment to other vehicles, having a steady pipeline of work means more miles driven and more money earned. But the road to profitability involves more than volume. There is also the matter of logistics. Truck drivers who deliver their loads but do not have another nearby load to pick up can sacrifice time and wear and tear on their vehicles driving to the next job.

For the past month, Edwards has been using a kiosk-based system established by the Beaverton, Ore.-based technology-based transportation company TransCore Ltd. called TruckersEdge. Located in truck stops throughout the United States and accessible through kiosks or telephones, TruckersEdge seeks to create business for truckers, making the time they spend on the road more profitable.

While there are several kiosk-based programs geared to truckers, TransCore's product is designed specifically to help facilitate new business for drivers by addressing their most basic business questions: Where is the next load and how much will it pay.

"It's really a never-ending saga for truck drivers," said Geoff Byler, TruckersEdge product manager.

The subscription-based program - drivers pay $49.95 a month for the service - offers truckers access to an information network. Through the service, they can find their next job or let organizations know when they will be available to carry a load.

For instance, a driver who leaves Portland, Ore., on a Tuesday bound for Atlanta on a Friday can log on to TruckersEdge via a truck-stop kiosk. While on the network, the driver can inform member organizations know that he or she will be available to pick up a load on Friday in or near Atlanta.

That driver can also enter rig information, the kind of load the rig can carry, and where he or she is willing to ship that next load. The system then pulls up all the job possibilities for that area on that Friday. While on the road, the driver can call the businesses that have potential jobs, set up the next job, and be ready to pick up the load in Atlanta.

The kiosks also provide information on weather, road conditions and pricing information for various areas of the country. There is also pricing information for truckers who are trying to figure out their costs per haul.

Edwards found the service useful during a recent trip to Laredo, Texas. When his dispatcher could not find a load to haul out of Laredo, he contacted TruckersEdge, which found four loads, including one that was going to San Antonio.

"I've been impressed," said Edwards, who has been driving since 1989. "I didn't know there was something out there that would help me this much."

Privately owned TransCore designed the TruckersEdge Web site, kiosk and online content. Byler said the whole program is designed to help truckers maintain a steady flow of work, something that often eludes truckers who do not plan more than a few days out.

"It's really a behavioral change," he said. "It can help them develop good business planning."

Since the TruckersEdge kiosk program deployed in August, about 1,300 subscribers have come online. Byler said he anticipates about 2,500 by the end of its first year. The program currently has almost 400 kiosks deployed in truck stops nationwide. The program is designed for the "per-driver" market, or businesses that have five or fewer trucks in their fleets.

The TruckersEdge kiosks were designed to accommodate the technological skills of drivers, Byler said. Truckers log on using a password and an ID. Drivers can also access information on the network over the telephone.

"Technology isn't high on the radar screen for truckers," said Byler. "We decided that we needed a concept that met them on their own playing field. A kiosk provides a solution where they hang out (at the truck stop)."

While other businesses have kiosk programs in place, few are as business-oriented as TruckersEdge. TravelCenters of America's TA RoadKing Club kiosk program, for example, offers rewards for truckers who participate in the driver loyalty program.

Since September of 2000, when TA first deployed the kiosks at its 160 locations nationwide, more than 400,000 drivers have begun using the program, said Dave Hanzal, RoadKing Club project manager. Drivers accumulate points by buying fuel or supplies and can redeem the points for free showers, cash certificates, and other products in TA locations.

TravelCenters of America's RoadKing club kiosk rewards truck drivers who fuel up at TA's truck stops.

Drivers receive a card and a key fob when they sign up for the program. Because the program is supported by transactions in the truck stops, users do not pay a subscription fee for the service.

RoadKing Club kiosks offer neither Web access nor e-mail. Hanzal said the reason was to make the transaction at the kiosk fast.

"The last thing you want to do is to have to wait 10 or 20 minutes to use the kiosk because someone is on the Internet," Hanzal said.

TA's kiosk program replaces an earlier version in which drivers kept paper-based certificates that they would redeem at the truck stops. The kiosk system eliminates the paper and exposes drivers to more marketing from the company, Hanzal said. Within the truck stops, the kiosks are placed near the truck dirver's entrance, giving it high visibility with its target audience.

The kiosks are connected to the company's network used by its point-of-sale PCs. The company's kiosks, which were designed by Apunix Computer Services, run on a Linux operating system with an Oracle database on the back end. Aside from having a few kiosks knocked off line as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the kiosks have remained online since they deployed.

"It's been very, very reliable," Hanzal said.

And for truckers used to having to drive long distance carrying massive loads, reliability is just what they like to see.