Freight Trucking Brokers

Prophesy Releases Case Study of ICS Logistics

Bloomfield, Connecticut (Vocus) November 5, 2009 -- Prophesy Transportation Solutions, Inc. (http://www.mile.com/), an Accellos company, provider of trucking and logistics software solutions to the transportation industry, today released a case study of its customer ICS Logistics. This profile describes the improvements in customer service, efficiency, and productivity experienced by the Florida-based logistics provider after investing in Prophesy trucking software (http://www.mile.com/dispatch/).

ICS Logistics is a full-service asset-based logistics provider based in Jacksonville, Florida. Founded in 1985, ICS has since evolved into a nationwide supplier of temperature-sensitive and ambient warehousing, stevedoring, intermodal container drayage, TL and LTL transportation with flatbed, dry van, and specialty cargo freight services, and much more. From locations in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Ohio, ICS serves the temperature-sensitive food industry throughout the US, including Wal-Mart distribution centers, major grocery chains, club stores, food service, and military operations.

Steady growth led ICS Logistics to automate portions of its operations using a solution from one leading software provider. However, dissatisfied with the system’s reporting capabilities as well as the amount of training required to make efficient use of it, Transportation Director and Chief Information Officer Dennis Rhodes set out to find a more suitable solution for his company.

After reviewing several major software systems, Rhodes received an in-depth demonstration of Prophesy Dispatch trucking software with Prophesy National Sales Manager Kevin Pasternack and was impressed with the functionality the Prophesy solution offered. “To meet our goal of better managing our assets, I needed software that would provide more accurate information,” said Rhodes. “We also needed to make use of a platform and infrastructure that would support additional growth without the need to add staff. After thoroughly reviewing several leading software packages, we were sure that Prophesy provided the perfect blend of solutions for our business.”

Working with Pasternack, Rhodes configured a Prophesy system tailored to the specific needs of his company. He invested in Prophesy Dispatch (http://www.mile.com/dispatch/) with enhanced SQL database technology, in conjunction with modules for fuel tax reporting (http://www.mile.com/trucking-software/tax/tax-description.aspx), commercial mileage and routing (http://www.mile.com/trucking-software/Mileage/Mileage-description.aspx), log auditing (http://www.mile.com/trucking-software/log/log-description.aspx), and driver management (http://www.mile.com/trucking-software/driver-management/driver-management-description.aspx). Rhodes also added the popular Prophesy Document Imaging (http://www.mile.com/trucking-software/Scanning-rendition/Scanning-rendition-description.aspx) for document scanning, storage, and retrieval, as well as Prophesy Pulse business intelligence software to keep tabs on key areas of his business via real-time data.

To get up and running, ICS Logistics employees enrolled in the comprehensive training program at the University of Prophesy. “The quality of training we received was excellent,” said Rhodes. “In just a few short sessions we learned everything we needed to use the system effectively, and we did it all by phone so we were able to carry on business as usual between sessions and never had to leave the office.” The implementation of the software was completed exclusively by ICS staff with only minimal phone-based assistance from their Prophesy Implementation Consultant.

Since going live with Prophesy, Rhodes has noticed incredible gains in staff productivity and customer service. “It is our priority to provide accurate and timely information to our customers, and using Prophesy we are able to achieve this goal, every time,” said Rhodes.

Computer Operations Supervisor Joey Van Duzee, as well as Rhodes and others, use Prophesy Pulse business intelligence software daily to stay abreast of the key performance indicators, or KPIs, of the company’s operations. “Pulse is an amazing intelligence tool,” said Van Duzee. “It was easy to install and we were able to run with it right away, using KPIs right out of the box. Over time we got a sense of what our specific needs were, and I found it very easy to customize KPIs and even create several new ones from scratch.”

Paul Stykitus, the company’s transportation manager, reflected on the numerous systems he has used in his career and said Prophesy was able to provide the timely information needed to efficiently run his transportation department. Stykitus covers the transportation KPI’s in his weekly staff meetings to make sure everyone knows the current status of the business.

The company’s Pulse users employ several KPIs such as deadhead percentage, on-time percentage, order accuracy, un-invoiced completed loads, average days to invoice, and more. Customizations have been made to timeframes, sorting and grouping, and even the underlying calculations used to pull data.

“One useful KPI we created for ourselves is what we call User Activity,” said Van Duzee. “We are able to track the amount of orders and other data each user has entered and then set a threshold for users to meet. This was especially helpful when we first rolled out Prophesy Dispatch, since it allowed us to see who was using the new system most effectively and who needed extra help or training.”

“Prophesy Dispatch and Pulse has been an excellent investment for ICS,” said Rhodes. “Utilizing these solutions together has enabled us to monitor those items that we feel will most affect productivity, customer service, and profitability, which is invaluable in accommodating our customers as well as increasing overall company efficiency.”

For more information about Prophesy’s Total Solution for Trucking, email moreinfo @ mile.com or call 800-776-6706.

Explore. Expect. Exceed…With Prophesy, an Accellos Company

The Total Solution for Transportation.

More trucking companies use a Prophesy software solution than any other brand on the market today! Quite simply because we have built the industry's leading total trucking software solution, designed to manage every facet of a growing trucking operation for both public and private fleets with integrated, comprehensive and easy to use features that ensure unsurpassed efficiency and greater profit.

Prophesy works with its customers to help them:

- Explore new solutions and capabilities to make their business more efficient and successful.

- Expect the best in quality and functionality from Prophesy.

- Exceed their own expectations and those of their customers.

For more than 20 years the Prophesy name has represented quality, reliability and affordability for the trucking industry. Our products offer reliable control over daily trucking operations, yet are easy for growing trucking companies and other fleet operations to implement, integrate and afford. This approach allows our users to build upon their total solution as their needs grow. For more information on how your trucking company can explore, expect, and exceed with the Prophesy Total Solution for Trucking, visit us on the web at www.mile.com today!

To read more about the experiences of Prophesy Users, visit our Customer Success page at http://www.mile.com/Customer-Success.

###

MORE ARTICLES:

Trucking Industry - Demand-Supply Equilibrium
Virtually, the macroeconomic situation of any country relies on its Demand-Supply Equilibrium. There is an inbound tendency within the macroeconomic framework of any country, to maintain a balance between the demand and supply factors. Trucking industry plays an important role in maintaining a physical equilibrium within the economy. Domestic supply of materials to neutralize demand depends on trucking industry. Therefore, high degree of efficiency in the trucking industry is essential to maintain the supply side of the equilibrium.

The Freight Brokerage Business - Basic Information and Finding Trucks
Freight brokers are basically middle-man between the shipper, buyer or owner of the product and the trucking company that moves the freight. Freight brokers will accept an order for a load to be moved from the customer and arrange for the transportation of the goods by locating a carrier to move the load. Freight broker's revenues are generated by the freight broker simple paying the carrier less than what they are being paid by their customer, which then becomes the freight brokers Margin or profit.

Freight Forwarders and Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasingly taken seriously by businesses of all kinds ý and that includes freight forwarders who are responsible for organising the International movement of goods by Road, Sea or Air Over recent years there has been growing concerns about the environmental impact of freight transport

Evaluate and Get The Most Out of Your Freight Broker Software
Good Freight Broker Software can give value for your company by not only sharing the power but by empowering the people who always goes and does a little extra, like in all business establishments and business houses there are those belligerent performers who are always on the lookout for an extra customer, booking that one more extra load for the day and commuting that extra mile just for a carrier. Freight Broker Software is the only providing medium to support their efforts and duplicate their processes.

Health Career Agents to Close Owner/Operator Program in December - Focus will be on High Margin Areas with Existing Healthcare Recruiting and Staffing
At its recent National Conference in Orlando, Health Career Agents announced that, as of December 1, 2008, the healthcare recruiting and staffing company will no longer accept new Owner/Operators. Rather, the company will focus even more of its energy and resources on helping its current network of Owner/Operators to substantially grow their businesses.

The China Import Market ý How To Win
The China import market is of increasing interest to many UK small businesses as the China economy continues to expand But freight forwarding from China is something that UK businesses see as something of a mystery, compared with freight forwarding to and from Europe and other more familiar countries