{"id":8097,"date":"2020-10-19T19:31:44","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T17:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=8097"},"modified":"2020-10-19T19:31:44","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T17:31:44","slug":"technology-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2020\/10\/19\/technology-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How technology has transformed Mesilla Valley Transportation’s fleet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seeking a technological edge has been part of the fabric of Mesilla Valley for nearly 40 years. The carrier was an early adopter of aerodynamic technologies, and the mpg savings that came with these advances has helped the fleet’s growth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Royal Jones, owner of Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT), has always been a big believer in how technology can transform and improve trucking fleets. Back in the 1980s, Jones wanted his own wind tunnel to test aerodynamic technology on MVT trucks. But a wind tunnel was too expensive for the young trucking company at the time. Instead, he just found a big hill in New Mexico.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones and his staff started coasting \u201cthe trucks down the hill, and that was what taught them a lot about some of the benefits of aerodynamics\u2014and because they were just coasting down this hill, it gave them a consistent experience for the aerodynamics,\u201d Mike Kelley, who has been MVT\u2019s chief technology officer since 2001, told\u00a0FleetOwner<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking for that technological edge has\u00a0been part of the fabric of Mesilla Valley for nearly 40 years. The carrier was an early adopter of aerodynamic technologies such as trailer skirts and tails and super-single tires. The mpg\u00a0savings that came with these advances\u00a0helped the fleet grow to more than 1,500 power units.\u00a0(It sits at No. 82 on the 2020\u00a0FleetOwner<\/i>\u00a0For-Hire 500.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on a constant mission to improve,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cWe look at inefficiencies or challenges and utilize technology to improve our processes within our company and within the truck. On the truck itself, owner Royal Jones, his design team, and procurement managers for MVT look at technology to improve fleet performance.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By the late 1980s, Mesilla Valley was averaging more than 7 mpg, a statistic that made many other fleet owners skeptical, Kelley noted. But these days, thanks to more technology and focus, MVT is averaging 9 mpg. The company focuses on the small gains that lead to big savings.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRoyal can tell you how just one-tenth of an mpg improvement can impact our bottom line per day and per year, even factoring in the cost of fuel. It\u2019s what\u2019s led us to be the leader in fuel economy,\u201d Kelley said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The latest MVT implementation was Platform Science, which the fleet coupled with\u00a0Drivewyze\u00a0PreClear. \u201cThrough Platform Science, we\u2019re able to leverage our expertise and the things we want tracked and use the cloud to make micro changes quickly through Platform Science,\u201d Kelley explained. \u201cWe were able to activate\u00a0Drivewyze\u00a0PreClear\u00a0immediately with the platform. It was as simple as saying \u2018turn it on please.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/span><\/p>\n

Mike Kelley, CTO of Mesilla Valley Transportation<\/span>Photo: Mesilla Valley Transportation<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Drivewyze\u2019s\u00a0transformation in weigh station bypass\u2014moving from transponder-based technology to one that uses cellular data\u2014has made a huge impact on the fleet. The technology also gives drivers a warning two miles before the truck gets there, which Kelley said has cut down on MVT drivers missing weigh stations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve gone from something that gave us a green light or red light for bypasses to one that gives us not only bypasses, but information and data on our performance and how weigh station bypass benefits our company,\u201d he said. \u201cDrivewyze\u00a0is a technology company, and we value them as a partner, not as a vendor. Like us, they leverage their technology, and they think out of the box. We like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because\u00a0PreClear\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0use transponders, reassigned drivers don\u2019t need to worry about remembering to transfer a transponder to a new vehicle. And the data back from\u00a0Drivewyze\u00a0shows that MVT drivers are averaging 15 bypasses per month.\u00a0\u201cThat saved us a tremendous amount in time and fuel, all documented,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cThe time savings alone\u2014with the advent of ELDs and the clock ticking on drivers\u2014makes bypass even more important.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelley said he\u2019s\u00a0in the process of turning on\u00a0Drivewyze\u00a0Safety Notifications, which provides alerts on high rollover areas, low bridges, and mountain alerts (steep grades, brake check areas, and runaway ramps).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more about making life easier for the drivers,\u201d Kelley added, noting that\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0good for the drivers can be great for the fleet.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Josh Fisher<\/a><\/span>

Source: https:\/\/www.fleetowner.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n

FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seeking a technological edge has been part of the fabric of Mesilla Valley for nearly 40 years. The carrier was an early adopter of aerodynamic technologies, and the mpg savings that came with these advances has helped the fleet’s growth. Royal Jones, owner of Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT), has always been a big believer in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8097"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8099,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8097\/revisions\/8099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}