Hugh G Hill: the mail hauler who stopped losing pay for stops her trucks actually made
Kyra Myers runs trucks for the U.S. Postal Service. Her semis and straight trucks haul mail a couple hundred miles each way, through hubs in Chattanooga, Nashville and Fayetteville. Her Jeeps deliver house to house.
When the Postal Service told contractors they'd have to put GPS trackers in their trucks, she assumed it would be a headache — she already had good drivers, and the routes ran close to home. GPS turned out to be the thing that gets her paid.
Company
Hugh G Hill
Location
Chattanooga, TNIndustry
Mail hauling and delivery (USPS contractor)Fleet type
Semi trucks, straight trucks and Jeeps for house-to-house deliveryFleet size
8One Step GPS devices used
One Step GPS platform tools used
The problem
Every time a contract truck reaches a USPS hub or post office, someone is supposed to scan it in and scan it out. Often, nobody is there. A driver can pull up to the dock and find no expediter in sight. A day or two later, the message comes: your truck wasn't scanned in Nashville. Your Fayetteville truck never got a departure scan.
A missed scan can mean a missed stop on paper, and a missed stop can mean the contractor isn't paid for it, even when the truck was there. Before tracking, Hugh G Hill had only the driver's word to push back with.
There were quieter costs, too. On mild nights, trucks sat idling for three or four hours while drivers waited at hubs. Fuel added didn't always match what drivers reported. And some drivers had heavy feet.
What was deployed
- GPS trackers on its semis, straight trucks, and delivery Jeeps, meeting the USPS requirement.
- Trip history and stop reports showing when each truck arrived at and left every hub and post office, and the route it took.
- Fuel level and engine data, used to compare fuel actually added with what drivers report.
- Next-day replacements. When she bought a new Jeep and called late in the day for another tracker, it was on her doorstep the next afternoon.
Results
Now, when a missed-scan notice arrives, she pulls the report and sends it back: the time the truck bumped the dock, the time it left, and the route in between. The answer is usually simple. The truck was there. The stop gets paid.- Disputed stops are resolved with records, not phone calls.
- Less idling. Long idles are flagged, and drivers are asked to shut down when there's no need for heat or air.
- Slower, safer trucks. After the speed data showed who was driving too fast, she turned the governed top speed down on several trucks.
- Compliance with the USPS tracking mandate, without adding work for the office.
