Crane Solutions Eliminates Late Penalties with Tive Tracking System

With checks and balances throughout every shipment, Crane Solutions works to avoid any unnecessary delays and costs—to deliver reliable capacity and visibility solutions that result in fewer disruptions, and more satisfied customers.

More Comprehensive Tracking Technology

As a logistics solutions services provider, Crane Solutions prides itself on its ability to solve problems for niche clients. Crane Solutions’ team of logistics professionals work with clients to provide real-time in-transit visibility as a value-added service. Crane Solutions is always asking, “What more can we do for our clients?”

"No other tracking service can offer all four tracking capabilities (of location, temperature, light, and shock) in one device.” – JOSH HUSSIN, CLIENT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Crane Solutions is constantly looking out for the next best technology to help service their client’s needs, and to help make things more efficient. In particular, Crane Solutions’ Client Development Manager, Josh Hussin, was looking for a way to improve the monitoring of high-end, high-value loads.

These shipments are valued from $100,000 to several million dollars on a single truck load and include a range of goods such as server racks, solar panels, satellites and designer clothing.

As Hussin was reviewing the latest tracking technologies, he came across Tive, Inc.

Based in Boston, Tive provides sensor and software solutions that allow supply chain managers to track and analyze the location and condition of their shipments in real time.

The company’s proprietary long-lasting sensors use cellular connectivity to shed light on the in-transit location and status of shipments. Supply chain managers access this data and analysis through the Tive software platform, where they can set up custom alerts like ETA warnings, temperature deviations, or geofences. They can also use the Tive API to pull data into external SCM, TMS, or ERP systems, and gather actionable insights into their supply chain.

Pilot Determines Crane’s First Choice

Crane Solutions selected the Tive tracking system over other
providers for three reasons:

• Tive offers both re-usable and single-use trackers
• The Tive trackers are calibrated to follow freight across four different dimensions: location, temperature, light and shock (on Tive’s Legacy series
• The tracker batteries have a longer battery life than any other system that he found

“No other tracking service that I found can offer all four capabilities in one device,” said Hussin, “Plus, Tive’s battery life puts them over the top. The biggest problem for trackers is charging them every month and drivers forget to do it, or the trackers get lost. Therefore, Tive’s battery life was a big selling point to reduce the amount of time needed to charge a unit. Along with this, other trackers have location and temperature, but Tive’s Legacy unit is the only tracking service with shock and light that I found. “

Taking Tive for a Test Run

Working with Tive, Crane Solutions was able to integrate Tive’s tracking technology into their existing transportation management system (TMS) in short time. This enabled Tive to transmit to TMS so that Crane Solutions can offer its clients a more granular tracking capability that gives them real-time updates on the location and condition of their shipments.

Next, Crane Solutions embarked on a three-month trial to see what kind of difference Tive could make to its clients. Over the months of June, July and August of 2019, Crane Solutions installed Tive re-usable units in nine trailers on a dedicated basis and ran them for two months using different time checks, locations, and battery life to get as much data as possible. Hussin tested Tive’s single-use trackers as well and found the Tive Solos to be very helpful in the limited dead zones across U.S.

Location

Crane Solutions delivers real-time tracking information to their clients to improve visibility into the location and condition of their freight. Crane can see if a shipment is delayed, which allows them to notify the customers of any excursions, giving customers time to make any adjustments.

Battery Life

Trackers can be set to transmit every 2 hours and still last ~45 days. Alternatively, the trackers can be set to transmit every 10 or 20 minutes, every hour, or every four hours. The frequency determines how much battery power it uses. Tive’s rechargeable units can be set for every 30 minutes and last up to 2 months!

Temperature

Previously, pharmaceutical clients wanted to see the reefer readout immediately upon arrival. With Tive, Crane Solutions can keep them posted on their shipment temperature in real time. Customers can click on a link and look whenever they want.

Light Sensor

Every time a door is opened, the Tive tracker records the change in light. This helps prevent theft and co-loading. After all, a client pays for a full truck — that’s what they expect.

Shock

Crane clients who shipped electronic equipment, such as server racks and solar panels, typically relied on shock tubes and tip’n’tells to determine if the equipment has any shock events over the allotted thresholds. However, they had no visibility if damage may have occurred until it was delivered. With Tive, Crane knows immediately if there has been a shock event and exactly how big it was. This enables them to alert their client ahead of time and possibly make a change in route. The next day, the client may have received a damaged piece, but its replacement is already on its way. Tive helps identify possible damage, caused by shock, in real time so that they can proactively address a potential problem.

Value-Added Service Offering

With Hussin’s Tive tracking test complete, Crane Solutions is in the process of selling the service to their clients and to other divisions of Crane.

“We offer Tive as a value-added service to clients with valuable, time-sensitive loads, such as our construction clients. Our goal is to provide great service, communication and visibility so that we become our client’s most trusted provider. Instead of just relying only on a driver’s cell phone ping, the Tive tracking system has allowed us to be more efficient.”