September 10, 2014 - by Synoptek
The trucking industry has nearly always struggled with driver recruitment and retention. It’s a problem that keeps fleet owners awake at night. Now there is a new, perhaps more critical, employee challenge for fleet managers, and that is the shortage of Information Technology experts. Unemployment for skilled IT professionals is around 1% nationally, and experienced IT professionals may not even be available in non-urban locations, where many trucking facilities are located.
Technology is the foundation for today’s successful trucking company operating a fleet of power units and trailers. Today’s fleets are managed by some of the most sophisticated computer applications and devices including:
- Transportation Management Systems – TMS
- In Cab Communications
- Cell Phones
- GPS (routing)
- Satellite tracking system
- GPS Tracking System
- Text Communications – Integrated with TMS systems
- Electronic Logs (EOBR)
- In cab Document scanning
- ECM Monitoring
- HR & Recruiting systems (software)
- Driver Training
- Log Auditing – For both paper logs (will be in play until at least 1/1/2017) and E-Logs
- CSA monitoring systems
- Maintenance programs for the trucks, trailers and reefer units
- Windshield/Driver Camera systems
- Document delivery
- Document Imaging systems
- Brokerage systems
- Pallet Tracking & RFI
- Accounting Systems
- Email and messaging
These technology components are not inexpensive, but on average 60% of IT operating costs are for labor. For example, IT professionals with the specific skills sets needed during an IT assessment and/or the implementation phases of an IT infrastructure upgrade may be very hard to find. Many motor carriers located in rural areas are particularly aware of how hard it is to find an IT professional with these specific skill-sets, especially as these personnel would only be needed for a limited engagement.
Facing both the high costs of labor (and labor costs are going up) and a shortage of skilled IT professionals, many trucking companies are turning to outsourcing IT infrastructure administration and management functions to companies like Synoptek.
Don’t leave the design, operation and maintenance of critical motor carrier management information systems to inexperienced IT professionals. The IT professionals at Synoptek manage hundreds of clients and thousands of devices all over the US and have the advanced tools and IT skill sets to needed to manage your complex fleet management IT infrastructure including:
- Server management and maintenance
- Network monitoring and management
- Desktop
- Mobile device management
- Messaging
- Security
- Storage
- Database management
- Back Up and Recovery
- Multi-Tier 24×7 US based Help Desk Support services
- Help Desk incident tracking system
