That venerable rallying cry for business, "Time is money," has special significance to the trucking industry, where a shipment that arrives too late or too early can affect the business of every customer and each successive customer on the delivery route.

Though trucking operations managers may face a myriad of challenges on a daily basis, they are expected to maintain a smooth, cost-efficient, delivery system to sustain the flow of goods from manufacturer to distributor and on to the consumer.

While the conventional image of the traditional truck driver may be that of a road warrior-independent and self-reliant as he navigates his rig using instinct and adrenaline—the reality of today's trucking industry champion may well be the diametric opposite. To ensure prompt delivery of his cargo, a trucker must remain in close communication with his dispatcher so that interruptions to his schedule can be quickly relayed to those on his delivery stops and remedial actions undertaken, if necessary.

Haulage companies are aware that consciously maintaining this necessary communication with the dispatcher can be a distraction to the driver. The companies have begun to implement software systems that continually monitor the location and condition of their fleet of trucks and drivers without impacting the driver's concentration.

When ICOM transport a.s., one of the largest transportation companies in the Czech Republic, was awarded a major contract late last year for the delivery of snack food items supplied by international companies Nestl�'s, Opavia-LU, and Danone, it decided that the inherent complexity of developing unique routes to more than 400 supermarkets throughout the Czech Republic on a daily basis required a unique solution. Following a thorough investigation of applicable vendors, ICOM turned to VARS BRNO a.s. (a GIS applications developer and business partner of ARCDATA Praha, an Esri international distributor) that created an information system for vehicle routing optimization and management based on Esri's ArcLogistics Route software and a number of related custom applications.

Comments Tom�s Cafourek, sales director for ICOM, "A major challenge for us in winning the new contract was the requirement to provide the companies whose products we are delivering a copy of our daily routes within one hour of finalizing the day's stops." The routes then had to be submitted to the dispatchers, who, in turn, monitored the vehicles and issued warnings to the drivers and the customers on their routes if a vehicle was off schedule for any reason.

By using ArcLogistics Route, ICOM dispatchers can automatically map the day's deliveries, assign vehicles to make those deliveries, and determine the optimal stopping sequences to minimize costs and honor time windows. The software also generates route summary reports, street-level directions, and driver manifests as well as exports routes and schedules back to the customer databases.

Orders arriving in Microsoft Excel format are imported into the central data storage where a check is carried out and the information required for order processing in ArcLogistics Route is completed (name, address, delivery time, etc.). Orders are then divided into groups according to the delivery time. The system also performs invoicing from the ArcLogistics Route central database. On the basis of the survey of covered orders and tariffs for individual vehicles, it processes basic invoicing documents according to orders, customers, and vehicles.

A strategic part of ICOM's information system is an intelligent mobile communications unit that is fitted into each vehicle. The unit consists of a GPS receiver; a programmable microcomputer that records the behavior of the vehicle, such as its location, stops, fuel levels, etc.; and a wireless communicator, either GSM- or GPRS-based, for communication with the control software application. A custom application manages communication between the mobile unit and the central database. It provides the link between the vehicle and the ArcLogistics Route software and communicates vehicle and delivery locations, delivery announcements, permitted tolerances (such as bridge clearance heights and road weight limits for the routes proposed by ArcLogistics Route), vehicle capabilities, and driver details (such as working hours and abilities) as well as other information. It also enables the transfer and storage of data from the mobile unit to the central database for vehicle dispatching and financial analysis.

To effectively generate quick, accurate routes, the ArcLogistics Route system requires regularly updated, error free mapping data. The hybrid data set used by ICOM has been developed and maintained by VARS. The basemap contains the complete road network for the country and was derived from a navigation map created by CEDA a.s.—which also provides navigation data for Skoda-Auto and Tele Atlas/TomTom. The road network map data is regularly updated and contains all descriptive information necessary for easy understanding of the map attributes as well as any changes in the road network. In the future, it will be used for dynamic segmentation including selectable restrictions.

Also included is street network data from CEDA a.s., which contains all major and minor cities in the Czech Republic. The street network is classified by street names and postal codes and is connected to the road network data.

In addition, political boundaries and both natural and man-made features, such as lakes, parks, streams, etc., are included in the map for better visual orientation.

VARS calibrated the compiled mapping data set for real-time travel, the most important procedure for correct route planning. For the calibration, engineering measurements from the Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic were used. VARS' calibrations also take into consideration special conditions such as the type of vehicle and its task.

Regarding the future of GIS at ICOM, Cafourek concludes, "We would like to develop a strong logistics department that will allow us to optimize all of the routes and services of our entire fleet of vehicles."

For more information, contact Ing. Tomas Miniberger, VARS BRNO a.s. managing director (e-mail: tomas.miniberger@vars.cz, tel.: 420-541-219-001, Web: www.vars.cz).