There are many case studies of companies that have benefited from the use of cloud technology, and today, we’re going to see about a transportation and logistics company that has transformed its business with cloud. Swift Transportation is the largest common carrier in the United States, and operates more than 18,000 trucks.  Founded in 1966 by Carl Moyes, this company has seen tremendous growth over the last four decades. It is a publicly listed company and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

Not so long ago, commercial drivers of Swift Corporation spent more time doing data-entry and other mundane tasks, than diving, and this will lowering their overall productivity and morale. The process entailed drivers to go to a customer’s site and browse through more than 60 forms to identify the right one for each kind of load. After taking out the form, the driver has to manually enter the details of the trip. This process was time-consuming and was also prone to manual data-entry errors. Sometimes, drivers have to make four to five trips a day, and this data-entry was frustrating them because they are paid to drive and not enter data.

To address this problem, Swift Transportation turned to the cloud. As a first step, it issued new Android-powered Samsung tablets to the drivers of all 18,000 trucks, and all the apps were connected to Microsoft Azure.

These mobile devices are connected the truck’s dashboard, so drivers cannot take them out and use it for external inspections. The software installed in these tablets have a more navigated workflow, so drivers can find what they want, enter pertinent information, and can get on the road within minutes. Such a streamlined process saves time, and reduces frustration for drivers as they don’t have to spend a ton of time looking for the right form and entering elaborate manual data in it.

The software was developed in partnership with a company called Blue Dot Solutions. Developers of this software sat with drivers and got a feel of what they want and the problems they face. So, the software completely caters to the needs of drivers, and is undoubtedly much faster than the manual process of entering data.

In addition, these mobile devices collect information about the truck on which they are installed. Such information can include engine performance, mileage, and other pertinent data, so it can be shared with the driver, and also can help the company to get a first-hand idea of the state of each truck. Such a data can identify maintenance problems even before they occur, and can be fixed right away. This way, downtimes and late deliveries can be avoided, not to mention the improved safety that comes with it.

On top of it, such data can help the company to get a better insight into its business operations, revenue and more, using which strategic decisions can be made to fill any existing gaps.

In all, cloud is changing the nature of operations of Swift Transportation and is streamlining the processes and making it more efficient.

The post Swift Transportation Benefits from Cloud appeared first on Cloud News Daily.