Trimble Dives Deeper Into Data Analytics, Taps Langley to Lead Transportation Division
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HOUSTON — Trimble introduced a broad range of new software features and product enhancements designed to help fleets gain more insights from the data in their systems and collaborate more closely with their shipper customers.
As the latest steps in its effort to transform the trucking industry, the technology supplier added new business intelligence tools, rolled out a free version of its freight visibility platform and previewed its next-generation, in-cab telematics device and a new system to monitor driver fatigue.
Also at In.SIGHT
Trimble made the product announcements here at its In.sight User Conference and Expo, held Sept. 15-18. The event, now in its fourth year, drew 2,000 attendees, the company said.
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During the opening session, Trimble also announced it has tapped James Langley to head the company’s transportation division as a Trimble senior vice president.
He fills a role previously held by Tom Fansler, who was elevated to chief technology and data officer for all of Trimble.
Langley, who was president of Dart Transit before joining Trimble Transportation earlier this year, identified several industry challenges that Trimble aims to solve: maximizing utilization, mitigating maintenance and fuel expenses, managing driver constraints and improving network management.
“It’s about maximizing resource utilization in everything we do — our assets, our people, our technology,” Langley said.
Through it all, safety will remain an imperative, he added. “As good stewards of this industry, we have to always be focused on the safety of our people and others around us on the road.”
In addition to his time at Dart Transit, Langley brings experience at J.B. Hunt, US Xpress and UPS Inc. to his new role. He also spent five years leading the business intelligence and optimization initiatives at TMW Systems.
Trimble, a global technology supplier for industries such as construction and agriculture, has made an aggressive push into the transportation market over the past decade, starting with its 2011 purchase of telematics supplier PeopleNet. The company also acquired software supplier TMW, routing and mapping firm ALK Technologies and freight visibility provider 10-4 Systems.
Trimble CEO Steve Berglund says the company is beginning to realize the potential of unifying its transportation technology businesses, including the former PeopleNet and TMW Systems. (Trimble)
Over the past year, Trimble has united those telematics and software businesses under a shared Trimble identity.
“By and large, I think we’re beginning to demonstrate the full potential of the combination,” Trimble CEO Steve Berglund said.
Trimble’s goal in transportation is “not just to be a change agent,” but to have a “transformative impact” on the industry through the use of technology, he said. “We are committed to the industry. We are committed to leadership. And we are committed to being a transformative element in the industry.”
As part of that push, Trimble is developing more advanced analytics capabilities, Fansler said.
The company’s dispatch system, for example, uses AI algorithms and machine learning to enhance the load-planning process, he said. “By optimizing choices and providing recommendations, we’ll help load planners make better decisions. That means fewer empty miles, reduced wait times and happier drivers.”
Fansler
Another key focus is “data democratization” — providing seamless access to information and presenting it in a way that is easy to understand.
To that end, Trimble has connected its Reveal business intelligence tool with Microsoft’s Power BI platform. That enhancement is designed to enable customers to access, query and manage the data in any way they’d like, Fansler said.
The company also introduced Market Insights, an analytics tool that shows aggregated pricing and transit time data at the industry level.
With data privacy breaches at major companies making news in recent years, data security has become a critical concern for fleets, Fansler added.
To give customers more control over their data, Trimble has introduced its Trust Center, a secure central hub through which fleets can manage how and when they share data with third parties.
A view of the exhibit hall at Trimble’s In.Sight User Conference in Houston. (Seth Clevenger/Transport Topics)
Shippers, meanwhile, are demanding more information about their shipments in transit.
To help fleets meet those requirements, Trimble is offering a complementary version of its Visibility platform, which enables carriers to share tracking views with customers via email, text messages or hyperlinks.
“We believe that connectivity and transparency within logistics should be the status quo throughout the entire supply chain,” said Zack Gibbs, a senior product manager for Trimble Transportation. “This transparency and data exchange among carriers, shippers and third parties is a foundational pillar for future improvements in our industry.”
The free version of Visibility is available to customers using Trimble in-cab communications in combination with the company’s Innovative, TMW.Suite or TruckMate transportation management systems.
A paid premium version of the platform provides enhanced features, including integrations with TMS platforms from outside vendors, dynamic estimated arrival times and proactive weather and risk alerts.
The company also unveiled a new telematics hardware option, the Trimble Duo. Unlike existing systems that require both an onboard computer and a separate in-cab display, the Duo is a vehicle gateway and driver display in one.
Trimble has designed the device to help fleets migrate to LTE mobile communications ahead of the impending shutdown of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks. The Android-based device will become available during the fourth quarter.
Trimble’s new in-cab device, the Trimble Duo, will become available in the fourth quarter. (Trimble)
In addition, the company previewed its next-generation mobile platform, Trimble Instinct, which will replace its PeopleNet Mobile software.
In another new development, Trimble said it will offer a fatigue monitoring system as an add-on to its safety analytics product.
The system will identify when drivers are approaching a fatigued state through real-time assessments of risks, such as long duty hours and driving overnight. The product will not require any cameras or other hardware in the truck.
Trimble partnered with sleep science firm Pulsar Informatics to develop the system.
