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Big truckers boost business with tracking software

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CIOL Bureau
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By Nick Carey






MONDOVI, Wis.  - Randy Marten clicks on his mouse, and map of the United
States pops open on his flat screen monitor.






"Watch this," says the chief executive of refrigerated truck company Marten
Transport Ltd., raising one eyebrow with a knowing grin on his face.






Marten clicks again and thousands of navy blue dots spread out across the map,
some at random but most along the busier parts of the U.S. interstate highway

system, like blue blood cells traversing the arteries of America's economic

heart.






"These are our trucks," Marten says, grin widening. That's all of Marten
Transport's 2,400 trucks, all 3,600 trailers.






Blue is for loaded trucks on the road -- along Interstate highways like I-90,
the longest U.S. Interstate, stretching from Boston to Seattle and passing

within miles of Marten Transport headquarters in Mondovi, Wisconsin. The

occasional pink dots represent an empty or off-duty truck.






The software -- developed in-house by Marten Transport using global positioning
system, or GPS, technology -- is an example of what analysts say has allowed

larger operators to grow and take market share from small companies.






Analysts and big trucking companies say this trend will continue as retailers
simplify their supply chains by opting for a few, big carriers instead of

hundreds of smaller carriers.






"Smaller carriers just can't deliver what we can," Marten says.





Big name customers such as cereal maker General Mills Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc.
rely on Marten Transport to provide fluid, national service that the company's

software makes possible, he adds.






SHIPPING DETAILS ON THE GROUND





Clicking on a blue dot in western Wyoming, for example, Marten displays a screen
showing the exact location of a truck, its load, starting point, destination,

cash advances, miles covered by the driver and comments from supervisors and

customers.






Hauling Samuel Adams beer for Boston Beer Co. Inc., the truck is passing through
the Teton Pass into Idaho.






"Shippers are increasingly looking for visibility throughout their supply
chain," says Peter Smith, an analyst at Morningstar. "Companies providing that

will be the winners."






Around 100 miles west of Mondovi, Kevin Terzich stares at a computer-screen map
of the United States and Canada.






The sales person at C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., a trucking and transportation
company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has two small numbered boxes in each

state.






"One box tells me how many trucks our customers need in that state at any given
moment," Terzich says. "The other tells me how many we have available."






C.H. Robinson is a non-asset based company, meaning it does not own a single
truck and hires out jobs to 40,000 carriers nationwide. The software on

Terzich's computer gives instant access to any state when a customer calls with

an order. The trucks carrying the goods are often from small companies that do

not have the reach of a national operator.






SOFTWARE DRAWS BIG CUSTOMERS





C.H. Robinson CEO John Weihoff says the company's ability to provide flexible,
nationwide U.S. coverage has brought more business from giant customers like

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., ConAgra Foods Inc., and has pushed smaller truck operators

to work for C.H. Robinson.






"Most of the gains we have made in recent years have come from taking market
share from smaller carriers," Weihoff says.






David Congdon, president and chief operating officer of Old Dominion Freight
Line Inc., based in Thomasville, North Carolina, says his company relies on

handheld computers carried by every single driver to manage and plan freight

flows across the United States.






"With this approach and coverage we are taking market share from smaller
regional players," Congdon says.






All three truck companies mentioned have seen revenue jump in recent years.
Marten Transport reported revenue of $460 million in 2005 compared with $380

million in 2004, C.H. Robinson's revenue jumped to $5.69 billion from $4.34

billion, and Old Dominion went to $1.06 billion from $824 million.






Marten Transport's stock price has nearly doubled since July 2004. C.H. Robinson
and Old Dominion have more than doubled in market value.






Equity research analyst Andrew Meister of Thrivent Asset Management, which
manages assets of $67.5 billion and holds stock in a broad range of transport

companies, says trucking companies like these should continue to take market

share and increase revenue by focusing on software and tools that smaller

companies often cannot afford.






"Without the funds for sophisticated software or tracking capability, small
companies will get smaller and have to take more of the scraps," Meister says.

"This trend will continue."





















































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