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McMahon Transport enhances productivity with proven vehicle specs and custom-designed, web-based fleet management system

Oct. 1, 2010
SOME of the most successful petroleum haulers in the United States aren't necessarily large fleet operators. However, they are incredibly efficient and

SOME of the most successful petroleum haulers in the United States aren't necessarily large fleet operators. However, they are incredibly efficient and productive.

Many of these small petroleum haulers generate nearly $300,000 a year in revenue per tractor, and some have reported annual tractor revenues in excess of $400,000 in Bulk Transporter's annual Gross Revenue Report. Often, the most successful petroleum haulers are innovators that make extensive use of productivity-boosting technology.

McMahon Transport Group in Lockport, Illinois, provides a great example of a relatively small petroleum fleet with outstanding performance. The carrier's 16 transports and 40 drivers deliver a whopping 260 million gallons of refined fuel each year just in the Chicago metropolitan area.

“We keep our fleet busyseven days a week, and we do all we can to ensure that our drivers and our vehicles work as efficiently and productively as possible,” says James P McMahon, one of the principal family members leading McMahon Transport Group.“We have even developed our own fleet management and dispatch software to help ensure that we don't waste resources.

“Despite the recession, we did well last year, and we are closing out 2010 on a strong note. Our customers are growing, and we are growing with them.”

Entrepreneurial spirit

The petroleum hauler was established in 1989 with an entrepreneurial spirit that remains just as strong today. The company also works hard to maintain a culture that emphasizes key objectives and strong relationships with employees, customers, and suppliers.

“Our top key objective is to make sure every customer delivery is safe and incident-free,” says James L McMahon, McMahon Transport Group president and founder. “We teach our drivers to operate our vehicles safely and to closely monitor each delivery. Those have been our objectives from the moment we started this company.”

Other key objectives include running properly specified and well-maintained late-model vehicles. James L McMahon also stresses the importance of good banking relationships and choosing an insurance company that understands the petroleum hauling business and its challenges.

“Most importantly, you need great customers to be successful,” he says. “We have done well in that regard. Our largest customer (a major petroleum marketer) has been with us since we started this company, and we see solid growth opportunities for the future with this customer.”

Regional operation

Serving that customer and others, McMahon Transport Group operates throughout the Chicago area and into northwestern Indiana. A full range of refined petroleum products are transported, including gasoline, diesel, biofuels, jet fuel, racing fuel and kerosene.

On average, deliveries are made within 20 miles of the petroleum terminals in the region. Drivers work 10-hour shifts, and two drivers per vehicle keep the petroleum transports running virtually around the clock. Each unit hauls eight to 10 loads a day.

Helping ensure maximum productivity is a computerized dispatch and fleet management application that was developed 10 years ago by John McMahon, who helped his father start the company and continues to direct the carrier's dispatch operations. The system has evolved into an Internet-based product called Digital Fuel Solutions that the company now offers to other petroleum haulers and marketers.

“We believe this dispatch and fleet management system is what separates us from the competition today,” John McMahon says. “The system automates the complete fuel delivery process from terminal to gas station, and it gives carriers, distributors, and gas station owners the ability to track the entire process online, step by step.”

Development of Digital Fuel Solutions came out of frustration with the traditional pencil-and-paper load management and dispatch system used by McMahon Transport Group — and most other petroleum haulers — at the time. “I was working very long hours and days, and I wanted an automated system that would manage drivers and loads, keep-full accounts, and inventory-management customers,” John McMahon says. “I looked for an existing system but couldn't find one. The system I wanted did not exist, so I decided to build my own.”

Four versions

Over the next decade, John McMahon built four different programs, each one closer to the system he envisioned. “I learned as I went along, and I made a lot of mistakes,” he says.

Using code written by a third party, the initial program was designed solely for in-house use and was built around the Microsoft Access database platform. The application contained a database of all the gas stations and convenience stores served by the carrier. Most importantly, the system was able to organize fuel inventories and deliveries.

Billing modules were added in the second version, which was a big improvement, according to John McMahon. The third evolution brought in driver pay and some inventory management.

The big move to the Internet would come with version 4. Work on the application started five years ago, but two years into the project company management realized they were going in the wrong direction.

“We couldn't make the system work as needed and with the number of users we anticipated,” John McMahon says. “We had to start over, and build the system around SQL Server, a more robust database.”

Web based

Version 4 was launched for daily use by the McMahon Transport dispatch team in July 2007. The system performed well, and the company began marketing the system to other petroleum transportation and distribution companies in April 2009. In addition to McMahon Transport Group, Digital Fuel Solutions is being used by six petroleum haulers and four petroleum distributors.

“Digital Fuel Solutions is being used to manage more than two billion gallons of refined fuel,” John McMahon says. “The product has been an outstanding success. Before we began developing this product, we employed five dispatchers in our fleet operation, and two of those dispatchers would spend three hours building the loads. Today, we have just two dispatchers and the process takes nine minutes. We've seen a significant drop in cross-drops and loading mistakes.”

The web-based interface is password protected and can be adapted to any fuel distributor's operation. The system collates all of the information needed to efficiently manage a fuel distribution operation. Data includes a service station list with contact information, service station tank data and inventories, delivery history, delinquent accounts, truck scheduling, and terminal feed files.

“We're able to schedule deliveries based on customer actual product sales,” John McMahon says. “This means the customer ties up less money in inventory. Recent updates include a DOT (Department of Transportation) record management interface that collects all of the records required for a DOT audit. We've made this system user friendly to the point that you can use a touch-screen phone to manage fuel distribution operations.”

Better communication

Improved communication is a big benefit of the Digital Fuel Solutions system. Communications has been streamlined between drivers, dispatchers, and customers.

“Our drivers carry wireless handheld Symbol touch-screen computers, and they have cab-mounted wireless Zebra printers for customer delivery receipts,” John McMahon says. “Everyone down the chain now has access to the same information, so everyone stays on the same page. We've eliminated unnecessary phone calls and a lot of ‘he said/she said’ scenarios.”

Real-time information available to drivers on the handheld computers includes work assignments, terminal and source numbers, updated gallons, driver pay, local weather, Google maps for every location served by the fleet, and location-specific notes. During fuel drops, driver input manifest number, stick readings, gallons, and any special notes.

Digital Fuel Solutions' state-of-the-art, patent-pending load generator tracks all storage tank inventory levels for every service station served by McMahon Transport Group. Inventory data is used to calculate pumping averages and plan future deliveries with exact gallons and when the delivery is needed. The system automatically configures optimal loads for each service station based on predetermined parameters.

The system dramatically reduces billing time and errors. “Customer billing is 100% automated. Billing used to be a very complicated process for us, but it now takes about 17 minutes once a week. It was a tedious job with lots of mistakes. At times we were under billing by as much as $1,500 a week. Those problems are a thing of the past now.”

McMahon Transport Group continues to look for additional ways to enhance the computerized fleet management process. The company is testing a satellite tracking system in two of its tractors.

“Our goal is to handle all vehicle tracking and communication with an on-board system,” says James P McMahon. “We want real-time data — including odometer readings and vehicle speeds — off the tractor. We also want geofencing capabilities.”

Petroleum fleet

The fleet runs primarily Mack tractors, and the newest units are Pinnacle model daycabs. The carrier recently added a couple of Peterbilt 386s as part an effort to try some different component specifications.

The Macks have MP8 engines rated at 435 horsepower and Eaton Fuller 10-speed transmissions. The Petes were ordered with 425-hp Cummins ISX engines and Eaton's UltraShift Plus automated transmission.

“We're very happy with the UltraShift Plus,” James P McMahon says. “Drivers report that it is easy to use and they feel less fatigued at the end of a shift.”

McMahon Transport Group also specified Bendix roll stability on its new Peterbilt tractors. The newest tractors also were ordered with Alcoa's Dura-Bright aluminum wheels that come with a five-year warranty on the finish.

All of the tractors in the fleet have sliding fifthwheels, air-ride suspensions and tandem-drive
axles with the Cats Eye tire pressure monitor. Four of the tractors in the fleet have Blackmer product pumps for customer pump-outs and such.

Petroleum trailers are supplied by Heil Trailer International and LBT Inc. The 9,500-gallon four-compartment trailers are specified with double bulkheads. McMahon Transport Group runs straight-barrel and double-taper units.

Tank hardware includes Betts internal valves, Dixon-Bayco bottom-loading adapters, and Civacon and Scully overfill protection. Delivery elbows are from Emco Wheaton and Dixon-Bayco. Hendrickson's Intraax air suspension system predominates in the trailer fleet.

Primary responsibility for keeping the tractors and trailers in top operating shape falls on the mechanics in the company's three-bay shop at the Lockport terminal. Maintenance monitoring capabilities were enhanced in June when the carrier began using TMT Fleet Maintenance software from TMW Systems Inc.

The software give the maintenance staff greater ability to manage maintenance schedules, parts inventory, fuel and tire usage, warranty recovery, and mechanic productivity. The software increases management's capability to analyze and evaluate component performance and cost.

The primary focus of the in-house maintenance operation is on vehicle preventive service. Preventive maintenance is scheduled at 10,000- and 20,000-mile intervals. Some light repairs are handled in-house, but major repairs are sent to the truck dealers and cargo tank repair shops. ♦

About the Author

Charles Wilson

Charles E. Wilson has spent 20 years covering the tank truck, tank container, and storage terminal industries throughout North, South, and Central America. He has been editor of Bulk Transporter since 1989. Prior to that, Wilson was managing editor of Bulk Transporter and Refrigerated Transporter and associate editor of Trailer/Body Builders. Before joining the three publications in Houston TX, he wrote for various food industry trade publications in other parts of the country. Wilson has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and served three years in the U.S. Army.

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