Competition Revs Up
In Trucking Industry
By Ed Lopez
Wireless companies looking to extend their customer base have begun looking to the highways, eyeing untapped markets in the
trucking industry.
Just like carriers are extending their customer base beyond the traditional core of business users, companies catering to the
wireless needs of the trucking industry are looking for newer, cheaper ways to capture more segments of that market.
Qualcomm's satellite-based OmniTRACS dominates the trucking market, whose firms carry entire truckloads of freight
throughout the country. But the company's focus has now shifted to less-than-truckload carriers that consolidate shipments at
terminals and move freight between terminals in scheduled runs. Other targets are metropolitan-based fleets that don't need
extensive communications.
“People think that because there are 14 million commercial vehicles that it's a single industry, but it's composed of a number of
vertical markets,” says Vinit Nijawen, CEO of Kinetic Computer Corp., of Billerica, Mass., which markets a system called
eTruck.
To expand into trucking's various markets, companies are lowering the price of messaging services and on-board terminals.
Both eTruck and Qualcomm's new OmniExpress service will use the Sprint PCS network to provide cheaper messaging than
satellite-based options. Newcomer Terion Inc. lowers terminal costs by using FM radio stations to transmit messages.
Reasonable messaging rates are important to trucking companies whose fleets make a high number of stops.
“Some trucks might make 30 to 40 stops, while a parcel company could make 100 stops,” says Chris Wolfe, vice president
and general manager of Qualcomm's domestic Wireless Business Solutions Group. “That translates into a high volume of data
traffic.”
In marketing its OmniExpress service, Qualcomm will underscore one-stop shopping and network reliability. “We offer a
turnkey solution and we guarantee that it works,” Wolfe says. “With a pieces-and-parts approach there tends to be a lot of
finger-pointing when something goes wrong.”
Though terminal and recurring costs are important to smaller trucking firms, Wolfe says Qualcomm won't compete strictly on
price. “We feel there is value there and we're going after the customer who understands the value.”
With eTruck, the strategy is not to charge for hardware and software, but to charge a monthly fee that has yet to be
established. The company also plans to use the Internet for easy data access by
dispatchers, trucking company owners, trucking company customers and others who need delivery data.
Both eTruck and OmniExpress have terminals that use the compatible Windows CE operating system, so trucking firms may
use a wide range of existing specialized programs or write their own.
“Just messaging and location services are not compelling enough,” Nijawen says.
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