Moving Forward, Together

Photo of Brian Jones talking to truck driver

Moving Forward, Together 

In June 2016, I left a 20-year career as a general contractor. Over that time, I was blessed to be part of teams that built some of the largest commercial construction projects in Texas. Those teams included gifted subcontractors and trustworthy suppliers. My friends. 

I had always been curious about technology in construction and appreciated the opportunity to bring new solutions to old problems. 

One particular problem grabbed my attention at the time. Why did construction trucking seem so frustrating? Paper tickets were a hassle to track. Shouldn’t I be able to see a truck’s location and have some idea when it would arrive at my site? 

This is when I decided to found Dauber. 

Over the next six years, our team built Dauber into the most powerful truck management system specifically for construction trucking and local bulk hauling. We solved the paper ticket process, gave end-users full visibility to truck activity, and generally made construction trucking more enjoyable. 

A startup, like Dauber, needs input from early adopters and visionary customers. I am grateful for the many drivers, owner-operators, brokers, and haulers who provided the feedback necessary to take Dauber from MVP to Product-Market fit. Thank you, my friends. 

Having built Dauber, I realize that it only solves a niche problem. And now it is time to solve a much larger problem. That’s why I’ve joined with leaders in the hauling and site construction industries to found NewMile. 

NewMile is centered on providing the industry with next-level innovations and  

support. Our vision is to raise the standard of service through every interaction by delivering end-to-end solutions for bulk logistics. We bring our unique combination of people, innovation, and experience to fill in the gaps between site operators, material suppliers, and trucking companies. 

Personally, I’m excited to bring my subcontractor and supplier friends from my construction career together with new friends from my trucking technology career. 

The first major step towards the NewMile mission is  for Dauber to become a part of the NewMile system 

I’m excited to announce that we are now, “Dauber by NewMile”; the first of many products the NewMile team will release over the next several months for site operators, material suppliers, and haulers. 

What does this mean for Dauber customers? You’ll continue to receive the same great service from the team, and I look forward to sharing new innovations with you soon. The only change you’ll see immediately are new logos, colors, and fonts. 

Thank you!  

Brian 

Improve Driver Engagement to Optimize Your Trucking Fleet

truck driver talking with project manager

Managing your fleet starts with managing your drivers. As the industry evolves and your trucks depreciate over time, the experience and knowledge your drivers acquire throughout their careers will carry your company past any hurdle. They’re the ones out on the road, witnessing your fleet’s performance first-hand. That includes your successes and inefficiencies. While fleet managers’ role is to manage your fleet and oversee drivers, developing them and maintaining driver engagement is a task all on its own.

Driver engagement and behaviors are the backbone to any fleet, and in order to sustain its health and success, they need a solid foundation to support them. If your drivers feel they are kept in the dark when making critical decisions or that they’re a replaceable cog in a machine, their performance will reflect that.

The issue of low driver engagement can be solved from the root. Here’s a few key ways you can leverage the expertise of your drivers to improve engagement while optimizing your fleet.

Fuel Efficiency

It’s your biggest expense, and the best way to control that cost is to zone in on the thing that relies on that expense: your fleet. Every skilled driver knows a big factor in a vehicle’s fuel consumption highly depends on how it’s driven.

Monitoring mpg might not seem like an impactful tactic, but when you have multiple vehicles operating under one company, the impact evidently strengthens. Additionally, poor driving behaviors can prove detrimental to your operations. That’s because reactive driving not only increases the chance of accidents, but harsh and sporadic behaviors can lower the lifespan of your assets, including tires, brakes, and engine. 

You might be thinking, “I’ve got effective procedures set in place to make sure that doesn’t happen.” But the case in any industry is that detailed policies and measures are only effective if they are executed properly by a compliant team. The compliant team is the key.

Boosting Morale 

The industry is always on the move, and your mind is just the same. So, at times you might forget to pause and evaluate the less-tangible aspects of your operations: the development, happiness, and overall morale of your team.

Low morale leads to high turnover rates, which costs your fleet in the long run by affecting production– preventing income– and increasing the need for training– requiring spending. At the end of the day, when employees are happy, they want to keep the good thing going, so there is a higher likelihood they will take thorough care of equipment and adhere to policies and procedures. So what can you do to boost morale?

Include those who will be affected when making decisions.

    • As changes and critical decisions are made, it is important to include everyone who will be affected in the decision making process. From those who manage the finances to your drivers, they can offer valuable insight that can lead you towards a better direction than you initially thought. Remember, they’re the ones on the frontline. Having their input on those decisions results in better buy-in and compliance.

Keep an open line of communication.

    • Engage in tactical conversations with your drivers. No one appreciates being micromanaged. You have to trust that your drivers are using their tools appropriately to maximize their performance and productivity, but a quick check-in to give your drivers an update or see how they’re doing can remind them how critical their role is to your fleet. 

Invest in more efficient, updated vehicles.

    • No one likes to deal with unreliable equipment. It’s a nuisance, a disruptor, and not something you feel proud to use. Studies show that when a fleet’s ergonomics are optimized, it decreases accidents and increases driver comfort, which helps to limit driver fatigue.

Your fleet is a living and breathing operation. Constantly pushing as hard as you can will exhaust your people and resources, but creating strategies to optimize efficiency can produce greater performance than ever imagined.

Drivers ultimately become more invested in the success of the company when they feel heard, valued, supported and considered. They in turn are more thoughtful in their actions, which means improved safety-protocol adherence and fuel management.

Empower Your Drivers So Your Fleet Can Exceed Expectations

Think smarter, not harder. Design your operations to be self-sustaining so it always has a solid foundation to fall back on. Reliable tools are only useful if you have a reliable team, so make sure you have holistic strategies in place and adapt effective software that allows for uninterrupted communication and workflow among your team, from the back office to the road.  


Take your strategy a step further and adopt a system that puts even more power in the hands of your drivers. Dauber Applications has an easy to use mobile app to help drivers track loads with simple, safe prompts to optimize their routes. The app provides remote technical assistance in English and Spanish to make sure your drivers always have support. Learn more about the Dauber Process. https://www.dauberapp.com/

Optimizing Sugar Cane Harvesting and Delivery

sugar cane harvested to delivered by trucks

Over 1,000,000 Tons of Sugar Cane Delivered by Dauber and SCGC

Dauber partnered with Belle Glade, Florida-based Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida (SCGC) to bring visibility into their sugar cane harvesting and delivery operations. This first-of-its-kind partnership will lead to optimized truck usage and a streamlined process between SCGC’s various field management and accounting systems.

SCGC runs between 120-200 trucks per day, seven days a week during harvest season to support nine harvest teams, called ‘units’.

Given the long distances between the fields and plant and the variable burn/cut rates of their units, SCGC often found two common issues prior to their partnership with Dauber: There were either not enough trucks at the field to keep up with the unit, or issues in the field led to too many trucks sitting idle, waiting to be loaded.

To overcome this obstacle, SCGC relies on Dauber.

Dauber’s daily assignment planner and AI-based dispatching system helps allocate trucks more efficiently and reduces the amount of time a truck or unit sits idle. The Dauber platform also allows haulers and growers the ability to track the yield of their efforts in real-time, and with customized views and reports.

The next steps for Dauber and SCGC are to fine-tune the truck optimization and integrate Dauber with their other systems, including John Deere and Quickbase.

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The Dauber Process

fleet truck
Drivers

The first step to optimizing a trucking system is Driver Engagement.

  • Dauber’s easy-to-use mobile app helps drivers track loads with simple, safe prompts.
  • Dauber can provide remote bilingual support.
stack of papers that are getting in the way icon | Dauber Fleet Owner/ Dump Truck App
Data

Once drivers are engaged, Dauber’s system continuously collects data.

  • Track travel time, routes, load time and plant times.
  • Dauber’s system adjusts to data in real-time to allow for automated changes to truck dispatch needs.
Truck icon with app on top | Dauber Fleet Owner/ Dump Truck App
Transparency

All stakeholders benefit from increased visibility.

  • Share truck locations with haulers and growers. This gives added confidence that trucks are moving, nearby, or being productive.
growth in fleet and trucking industry icon | Dauber Fleet Owner/ Dump Truck App
Optimization

Dauber’s system analyzes and learns about operations.

  • AI-based algorithms can allocate trucks to reduce wait times.
  • Custom business rules (i.e. minimum trucks needed for a field) can be adjusted to meet customer needs.
dauber app desktop icon | Dauber Fleet Owner/ Dump Truck App
Integration

Dauber has an open API and can integrate with any third-party system.

  • Get started with simple tools (i.e. spreadsheets, Dauber Assist) then automate processes using existing tools.

Site Contractors: There is Not a Truck Shortage

Before founding Dauber, I was a construction project manager for 20 years. I’ve heard every excuse imaginable as to why a project was running behind.

One excuse that seems to be in vogue lately for Site Contractors not hitting their production rates is the “truck shortage.” From foreman to managers to owners, this excuse has been accepted as true and the reason for projects to finish late and to pass on opportunities for new projects.

There is Not a Truck Shortage! There is a Leadership and Technology Shortage.

Did you know that dump trucks are driving loaded only 35% of the time? The remaining 65% of their working hours are spent driving empty back to pickup, or waiting on site to be loaded or unloaded.

The good news is there are several opportunities to turn a truck’s empty or idle time into productive movement of materials through technology based accountability and optimization.

Accountability

Hold drivers, suppliers and field personnel accountable to the efficient use of truck time.

Drivers

Using technologies, like Dauber, dispatchers and site contactors can track drivers current location and historic routes. Compare turn around time between trucks to identify drivers who may be taking longer than necessary or taking breaks when they should be working.

Suppliers

It seems everyone is busy these days that includes material suppliers. Help your suppliers service your project better by tracking load times at pickup. See trends throughout the day to plan the best time to get loaded.

Field Personnel

Is your field team operating at maximum efficiency? Give them visibility into truck locations in real-time, so they can be prepared to unload quickly, or if trucks are several minutes away, work on other tasks.

Track unloading times across several days to measure improvements.

Optimization

Traditional truck dispatching has basically been unchanged over the past 80 years. Dispatchers communicate with drivers via phone (now text messages) and tell them the list of loads for the day.

Technology now makes it possible to reduce empty drive by finding backhauls, space trucks to prevent caravans and queuing, create an optimized next-day plan in minutes and adjust to changing conditions automatically.

Backhauls

Perhaps the biggest opportunity to increase truck productivity lies in the time a truck drives empty. Most projects operate in a silo, meaning a truck will work one particular project at a time.

Savvy dispatchers and site operators will look for backhaul opportunities. Backhauls from human dispatchers tend to be obvious when observed on a map.

Technology can provide deeper analysis of daily loads to find hidden partial backhauls and combinations of three or more projects to make efficient circuits.

Caravans & Queuing

Several minutes per day are wasted by caravanning trucks. Drivers tend to be social and prefer to drive in packs. This leads to delays as trucks wait on one another to load or unload.

An optimized planning tool, like Dauber, can be set to limit the number of trucks on site at a time, thus staggering deliveries.

This also increases field productivity as trucks arrive at a more consistent rate. Technology can help avoid the problem of having several trucks on site to start the day, and the resulting echo effect of truck caravans.

Assignment Planning

Dispatchers typically spend several hours every afternoon and evening to determine the best truck assignments for the next day.

With technology, a better plan can be found in only a matter of minutes.

Automatic Change Adjustment

The only thing certain about a trucking plan is that it will change before the sun rises.

Stuff happens. Trucks don’t show up. Orders increase. Projects finish early.

Instead of leaving loads undelivered or sending trucks home early, use technology to automatically adjust to changes throughout the day.

There is Not a Truck Shortage

You can do more with the trucks available. Dauber customers increase productivity between 10%-20%.

As a Site Contractor, how much more money could you make this year with a 20% improvement in truck productivity?

I often hear contractors wish trucking companies were more professional. The only way for that to happen is to treat them like professionals. Lead them to a better future. Provide for them or require that they use technology to improve productivity.

And stop using the “truck shortage” as an excuse!

Breaking Down the Hauling & Logistics Industry

truck road train

Working in the hauling and logistics industry is more than a career choice – it’s a lifestyle. The seed was planted way back when you were just a little tyke. It’s part of who you are, regardless if it was instilled by a lineage of truckers or if you were led here by your desire to challenge yourself to work in an energizing, innovative industry. 

To appreciate where we stand now, we have to recognize where our trucking ancestors started. 

The Impact of the Industry

The hauling and logistics industry came to life in 1912, with 10,000 trucks as their lifeline. Today, there are around 40 million!

The trucking industry employs 3.9 million commercial driver’s license holders as of 2018, according to the  American Trucking Associations. These drivers deliver 70 percent of all the freight carried throughout the United States. Their contributions and dedication have helped the industry itself reach a value of $11.5 trillion with $791.7 billion in gross revenue.

Saying we’ve come a long way is an understatement.

hauling and logistics then and now

Hauling & Logistics: Then & Now

Take a second to remember the good ol’ days, when winging it was the norm. Finding your next job and destination took initiative and proactivity – Now, they come to you so you can keep your schedule full. Once you got to your destination, you had to pull out a flimsy piece of paper to keep track of tickets and document extremely critical data, then hope it made it to the next stop with you – Now, all you have to do is take a picture of the ticket, upload it, and input the rest of the data into your phone. No more lost data, no more gaps – life is good.

Perhaps we’ve been spoiled by the innovative resources and technology we use and abuse today, but they do make our past processes look like a bad joke. It’s hard to imagine functioning in such a demanding industry without a proper tool belt.

dauber app desktop icon | Dauber Fleet Owner/ Dump Truck App
With Dauber’s Hauling & Logistics App, you can...
  • Track loads and manage trucks
  • Coordinate schedules
  • Optimize routes with GPS
  • Digitally document loads

A major plus? Since everything is done online, invoicing and accounting are completed way more efficiently so you can focus on the fun parts of your job instead of the tedious, confusing paperwork.

Optimizing the Industry Through Innovation

It’s no question that implementing technology into the hauling and logistics industry was a necessary move, but it’s not often that we take time to look at the before and after and thank our lucky stars that someone out there was staying ahead of the game. Now, we get to reap in all the benefits.

Dauber Applications is just one contributor to the improved workflow, but we take great pride in knowing our input has been monumental for our partners in the industry. Find out how we’re changing the game from the lens of one of our partners, Manatt’s Inc. by clicking here.