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QUALCOMM Lands TrailerTRACS Contract with
Trucking Industry Heavyweight Covenant Transport
PR Newswire - July 22, 1998 09:00
Transportation Company Looks to Reduce Costs and Improve Tractor-to-Trailer Ratio
SAN DIEGO, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leader
in mobile communications for the transportation industry, announced today it has signed a contract
with Covenant Transport (Nasdaq: CVTI), one of the nation's largest trucking companies, to outfit
Covenant's dry van fleet with 3,400 TrailerTRACS(R) units. Installations began in early June.
"It is our intention to equip our entire fleet with QUALCOMM's TrailerTRACS product and
inventory control software. This will enable us to reap the full benefits of optimized trailer utilization,"
stated David Parker, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Covenant Transport. "Our
decision was based on company goals to decrease costs and increase productivity through an
improved tractor-to-trailer ratio. With TrailerTRACS we believe we can achieve this."
Covenant's Refrigerated Division originally purchased the TrailerTRACS reefer monitoring option to
reduce cargo claims by utilizing the products set point and reefer alarm reporting. At the same time,
Covenant observed how TrailerTRACS improved operational efficiency with dispatch integration
and location reporting. Covenant wanted its entire fleet to have the best end-to- end trailer tracking
system available, according to Mike Miller, Covenant's executive vice-president and chief operating
officer. "We are aware that new untethered solutions are being developed by various providers,
including QUALCOMM," he said. "However, QUALCOMM's TrailerTRACS system meets our
needs right now by giving us visibility to our trailers, so why wait? If our future needs require
untethered functionality, we will have those options available. It wasn't a difficult decision.
QUALCOMM has the only proven-product available today."
"We are pleased that Covenant took the time to assess all the options thoroughly and chose to outfit
their entire fleet with our TrailerTRACS product," stated Phil White, senior vice-president and
general manager of QUALCOMM's OmniTRACS Division. "Our product is and will continue to
enable them to significantly reduce trailer costs and streamline operations."
"By outfitting our dry van fleet, we will be able to improve our operating profit by gaining visibility to
all our trailers using TrailerTRACS," Parker said. "Covenant's goal is to reduce our equipment costs
by nearly $1 million this year through improved trailer utilization alone. To that end we have reduced
our 1998 trailer order by 50 trailers," he added. "That doesn't include the reduction of associated
costs such as depreciation, cost of funds and maintenance. TrailerTRACS has exceeded our
objectives thus far, which helps to reinforce shareholder value by reflecting a net gain on our
company's bottom line."
TrailerTRACS provides powerful features that benefit transportation companies like Covenant,
including real-time monitoring of connect and disconnect events; current trailer and truck
identification, location, and status; exception-based alerts; and fully-automated transactions that
improve the flow of load status while eliminating the need for driver intervention and allowing
dispatcher anticipation of loaded and empty calls. In addition, TrailerTRACS ensures protection
against cargo losses and provides load-based quality assurance information to shippers.
Management of trailer capacity balance, one of the key features of TrailerTRACS, helps Covenant
determine the optimum amount of trailers to use for the greatest cost-effectiveness and customer
satisfaction.
With over 230,000 OmniTRACS units sold worldwide, QUALCOMM is the leading provider of
mobile communications and information management systems to the transportation industry.
QUALCOMM currently has systems operating in the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia,
Middle East, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Korea and Malaysia.
Covenant Transport is a full service transportation company based in Chattanooga, Tenn., providing
truckload and other transportation services throughout the United States. Covenant operated a fleet
of 3,602 trailers as of June 1998. For further information about Covenant Transport, please visit the
company's Web site at covenanttransport.com.
Headquartered in San Diego, QUALCOMM develops, manufactures, markets, licenses, and
operates advanced communications systems and products based on its proprietary digital wireless
technologies. The Company's primary product areas are CDMA wireless communications systems
and products, the OmniTRACS(R) system (a geostationary satellite-based, mobile communications
system providing two-way data and position reporting services) and, in conjunction with others, the
development of the Globalstar(TM) low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite communications system. Other
Company products include the Eudora Pro(R) electronic mail software, ASIC products, and
communications equipment and systems for government and commercial customers worldwide. For
more information on QUALCOMM products and technologies, please visit the Company's web
site at qualcomm.com. |
