Profit Tools is able to rapidly create an affordable, full-function, extensible and scalable solution that has been enthusiastically embraced by small to mid-sized commercial trucking companies. Nearly 200 companies have implemented Profit Tools; these customers are realizing significant bottom-line results.

The Physical Link in the Supply Chain
Look around your office or your home. Virtually everything you see is there courtesy of the trucking industry. Trucking, the physical link in the supply chain, moves raw materials and finished goods from one place to another. Although we see tractor-trailers and other commercial trucks every time we head out on the road, it probably doesn't register that they represent a $400 billion industry that employs one in 14 Americans in some capacity. What makes this industry even more interesting - and challenging from an IT perspective - is that over 80 percent of the commercial trucking fleets in the United States are small businesses.

"That presents a very interesting technology challenge to a software development firm like ours," says Brian K. Widell, president of Profit Tools, Inc., whose firm specializes in solutions for small to medium-sized commercial trucking companies. "While these companies are facing increasingly sophisticated information demands, they typically have no IT staff and fairly limited IT budgets. What they need is a full-function, reasonably priced, highly intuitive, out-of-the-box solution that will support core operational tasks like order-entry, vehicle routing and scheduling, equipment tracking, regulatory compliance and invoicing. And they need the solution to be flexible, extensible and scalable to grow with them. We created Profit Tools for Trucking, using PowerBuilder and SQL Anywhere Studio, to meet this unique IT challenge."

'The Information Hub in Our Customers' Operations'
Profit Tools for Trucking differs from many trucking solutions in that it is a dispatch-driven application. "Dispatch is the heart of any trucking operation," explains Widell. "It's the thing that drives the business and moves the freight. A lot of trucking packages are built from an accounting perspective and add in dispatching as an afterthought. Our experience in the trucking industry led us to use dispatching as the central design point."

In addition to the dispatching functionality (including order-entry, scheduling and tracking), Profit Tools was designed to handle invoicing and driver settlement, and to easily interface with a variety of third-party accounting packages such as Intuit QuickBooks, Peachtree, Mas90, and Great Plains Dynamics. It also includes log auditing and other driver management features to help ensure safety by making it easy for drivers to comply with the complex rules regarding the number of hours they can work in succession and required rest periods. "We developed Profit Tools for Trucking to become the information hub in our customers' operations," says Widell.

iAnywhere Solutions, the Key to Profit Tools' Success
One of Profit Tools' first decisions in creating its trucking application was the choice of a development tool that would allow it to build affordable, full-function products very quickly. "We knew we wanted a Windows-capable, rapid application development tool," explains Widell. "At the time we evaluated several tools and PowerBuilder seemed like the best choice in terms of its data presentation and manipulation capabilities as well as the overall direction of the product and the company. Looking back I can now say it was the best choice. We've been very happy with it."

Another decision was choosing a database to embed in its application. Profit Tools needed a high-performance, low-maintenance database that could be embedded without placing the application beyond the financial reach of its target customers. "SQL Anywhere Studio enabled us to deliver the high functionality and performance our customers required at a reasonable price," says Widell. "We looked at other products, but none of them could match SQL Anywhere's performance and ease of use. Profit Tools for Trucking, with the embedded SQL Anywhere database, installs easily off a single CD. For the majority of our customers, we can get a five-user system up and running in half an hour. And then on an ongoing basis, it's a very low-maintenance solution with no DBA required."

Customers Praise Ease of Use, Extensible Design and Bottom-Line Results
Charlie Itz, president of Itz-Ohlson Transport, is a believer. His company specializes in drayage of intermodal containers from ports in Boston, New York, and New Jersey to customers throughout the northeastern United States. Itz-Ohlson manages a fleet of 30 owner-operated trucks, which move some 10,000 containers annually. The container drayage business is logistically complex and requires special skills to be competitive. "Profit Tools," says Itz, "enhances those skills as well as the speed and simplicity with which they can be applied. The company clearly understands our business and their product makes it a lot easier for us to manage. Because the product is well-thought-out and designed, training took one day. It's a simple product to learn if you know the trucking end."

Itz also appreciates Profit Tools' reliability. "We installed it and it just goes. We don't have any problems. With Profit Tools, we're able to track our equipment and drivers in real time, our billing is more complete and accurate, and it automatically creates a file that QuickBooks can import so we can track our receivables."

Stephen Deorocki, president of D-Rock, Inc., is another Profit Tools fan. "Before we implemented Profit Tools, we did everything manually. We were getting inundated with paper and were spending too much time trying to find proof of delivery information and invoices that were not readily accessible. Profit Tools lets us work in harmony and get a lot more done in a day. Also, before we installed Profit Tools, we weren't catching all the accessorial charges because it was just too hard. Now we get them all. It's like found money."

Fueling Profit Tools' Growth
After only four years in business, Profit Tools already has nearly 200 customers. Clearly the company is doing something right. Part of their success is due to the fact that their application was built by trucking people for trucking people. But Widell also credits iAnywhere Solutions as a factor in his company's success.

"iAnywhere Solutions technology has been critical to enabling our product strategy," he explains. "And all of our plans going forward involve iAnywhere Solutions."

Many of those plans place continued emphasis on enabling customers, drivers and business partners to access trucking company information when they need it, in whatever form they need. Profit Tools' LiveLoad product, which allows trucking companies' customers to track their shipments via the Web, is one key element of that strategy. Other modules enable customers and business partners to be notified proactively about status changes via e-mail or EDI. Profit Tools also provides links to mobile devices that enable drivers to access customer information such as contact names and numbers, delivery locations, and hours of operation right from their trucks as they're en route to their destinations. "Trucking is the physically distributed link in the supply chain," says Widell, "and there is a very strong need for information visibility. iAnywhere Solutions tools are providing us with the openness and functionality we need to deliver information anywhere to the people who need it."

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Key Benefits

• Provides trucking companies with affordable, easy-to-use applications
• Simplifies training processes
• Supports core operational tasks

  Sybase Technology
  

• PowerBuilder
• SQL Anywhere

  Industry
  

• Transportation