There's a new tool for truck miles acounting/routing between pickups and deliveries and, unlike many such tools built for trucking companies large and small, the new ProBuilt Miles system is free.
According to the company that launched the tool in December, the "web-based commercial routing and mileage calculation system" is geared specifically not only toward trucking companies of size but also small fleets and independent owner-operators with Class 8 truck-specific routing and miles info.
Costs for subscription-based legacy miles/routing programs might run anywhere from $20-$85 monthly per-truck and/or -user, according to ProBuilt Software, yet the new no-cost alternative is accessible from any web browser. As with some of those subscription-based programs, the ProBuilt routing options feature both practical- and short-miles variations, dependent on the size of the vehicle used.
Overdrive contributor Clifford Petersen made the case in October for more fleets to move to practical-/actual-miles accounting in today's world as the standard for driver and leased owner-operator pay. It's more than feasible to track miles run, and pay accordingly, for most any-size fleet, and "truckers deserve an accurate, practical/actual-miles standard for miles-based compensation and rates accounting," Petersen wrote.
There's evidence that standard is much more common than in decades past, yet short miles persists, noted by nearly a third of company and leased operators who responded to Overdrive and CCJ's recent surveys. 45% of respondents noted miles as a major part of their pay packages, and here's how they answered the follow-up question about method of miles accounting.
Petersen noted persistence of short miles systems delivered a "systematic underpayment of drivers," yet truth is carriers who use such a system often base their rate contracts with shippers on short-miles calculations. Leased owners and drivers paid on a percentage basis, like Petersen, as well as the carriers themselves, see impact on the downside, too.
[Related: Compensation 'as the crow files': Why are carriers, shippers still using 'short miles'?]
Using ProBuilt Miles' new tool, a practical route between points in Tennessee and Phoenix calculates to around 100 miles more than the shortest route option for a Class 8, 80,000-lb. standard-length tractor-trailer. That shortest route looks to be legal for such a unit, yet knowing what we do about the Nashville area it comes out of, no self-respecting truck operator would try to navigate some of the narrow streets and tight turns indicated, to say nothing of time of transit.
Why include a short-miles option in the tool at all?
ProBuilt Sales Director Paul Till, previously a key part of the TMS provider PCS Software going back to the 1990s, noted the "persistence of shortest-route mileage today is not really about technical accuracy so much as commercial convention."
Software designers bow to those conventions, well aware of the long "tension," Till added, between short-miles calculations and actual miles run by drivers. "Many shipper contracts, pricing agreements, and pay formulas were built around that reference point long before modern routing, tracking, and vehicle-aware navigation were widely available. Even as better tools have emerged, those legacy standards tend to endure, particularly given the leverage dynamics that exist between freight owners" -- shippers in other words -- "and carriers."
Till and company well recognize the reality that short miles "rarely reflect how freight is actually moved day to day," he said.
Could more sunshine on the reality prove a good disinfectant?
Having both short and practical truck-aware miles options in the tool will improve visibility for fleets and owner-operators to better "understand how rates or compensation are being calculated relative to the miles actually driven," Till said.
Many if not most carriers and leased owners are "acutely aware of the gap between paid miles and run miles," he added, and "tools that show both shortest-route and practical routing help make that difference explicit rather than implicit."
[Related: Pay wish list: Leased-owner, company-driver preferences v. reality]
In addition to short/practical route options, other capabilities of the tool:
- Commercial routing built specifically for Class 8s
- Accurate point-to-point and multi-stop miles calculations
- Vehicle-aware routing with options to modify truck weight, height, length, axle load and governed speed
- Realistic ETAs using speed assumptions
- Optional routing controls for hazmat awareness, toll avoidance, ferry avoidance and border handling
- Turn-by-turn commercial directions
- Visual route planning on an interactive map
- Interactive state-by-state miles visibility along any route
A two-stop run example from the ProBuilt Miles tool is shown here. "Whether you are a dispatcher or an owner-operator, the ability to calculate commercial miles quickly and reliably is essential," Till said. "We wanted to make that process as simple and accessible as possible."
[Related: Usage-based trucking insurance -- is it prime time yet?]
