Improving Efficiency in the Freight Industry: A Case Study of Knight Transportation
Added on 2020-12-07
12 Pages2594 Words117 Views
IntroductionThe freight businessis extremelycompetitive. In recent years, many freight companies have adopted information technologyto boostthe performance of seemingly conservative industries.those thatinnovate can get rich returns.within theus, truckingremainsthe most cost effectiveand fastestthanks tomove goods from one locationto a different. 80% of all goods transportedwithin thecountry are transported by truck. Knight Transportation Company Knight Transportation Company was founded in 1990 by four cousins: brothers Kevin and Keith Knight, Randy and Gary Knight. Based on previous work experience in Swift Transportation and more than 80 years of comprehensive experience in the trucking industry, the Knights conceived a better way of trucking. The initial goal was to repay debts with first-class equipment and the lowest-cost means of transportation, and mainly focused on safety and customer service. The four cousins started to work.Due to the small number of trucks in the terminal building in Phoenix, Arizona, and thedesire for growth, the Cavaliers cousin quickly realized his dream and soon discovered thattheir company was rated as the fastest growing truck company in the United States. It hasbeen named one of the "200 Best Small Companies" by Forbes magazine for severalconsecutive years. Knight has grown from one terminal to 25 terminals, from three trucksto more than 4,000 trucks, and from a few drivers to more than 4,000 drivers. Now it hasbecome growth, profitability and culture. And innovative industry leaders. In 2017, KnightTransportation Company and Swift Transportation Company conducted an all-stocktransaction, and the combined Knight Swift Transportation Holding Company became thecompany's largest vehicle company in North America.The company transports all kinds of goods: consumer staples, paper products, packaging andplastic materials, manufactured goods, and import and export goods. Its refrigerated trailertransports perishable food. Due to the growth of the fleet and the increase in the types ofitems handled, the company believes it is necessary to learn more about the location of itstrucks and trailers and the resulting trailer items. These needs are in addition to the oldchallenge of locating stolen trucks. From loading the truck to parking overnight, thieves oftenfollow the truck. In one case, a group of criminals stole $2.2 million worth of items fromseveral trucks. The ring was arrested near Chicago in 2006 and stole medicines, alcohol,
photocopiers, biscuits and car parts. The communications director of Knight Transportationestimates that truck cargo theft is more common than bank robbery. Freight is still aninefficient industry to a large extent, mainly because time is extremely passionate aboutcustomers: sender and receiver.The company explored ways to usethe GlobalPositioning System (GPS). Many companies specializingduring thisfield provide systems for locating driversto confirmthat driverswon'tstop excessively or take unnecessary routes. Knight wants more information. In 2001, management decidedto appointTerion in Plano, Texas.Question 1Before Fleet-View was installed, Knight’s inefficiency was because the company did noteffectively use its trailers and trucks, for example, the company did not have the exactlocation of its empty trucks or trailers, so what would happen when they tend to send emptyTrucks or trailers travel long distances to pick up some goods, and there are trailers or trucksavailable nearby, which causes the demand for trailers to exceed actual needs, and leads topoor communication between the truck drivers and their delivery locations, because thecompany usually I don't know which trailers are loaded, which ones are not, let alone thecargo. The timing is highly dependent on the customer: sender and receiver, so the processingof perishable food is very fast, but it is different from the processing of other items, becausethe truck may have to wait several hours or even days until the store has Enough space orpersonnel to unload cargo.The company also spent at least an hour looking for empty trailers to use, thus wasting timeevery day. Other inefficiency issues include their tendency to send trailers to the wronglocation because they have to monitor many trailers. Before installing the fleet landscape,they lost $2.2 million from several trucks because the goods they were carrying were stolen,and because their trucks did not have safety devices installed to warn drivers of possiblerobberies, thieves often from time to time Follow the truck and it will load until the driverstops at night.
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