Trimble Introduces New Module to its Fuel Transportation Management System for Managing Heating Oil Delivery | Trimble, Inc.
HOUSTON, Sept. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced the launch of its new Fuel TMS Degree Day Forecaster module. The new module enables fuel carriers and their customers to better monitor fuel consumption and manage deliveries based on accurate data. The announcement was made at Trimble's third annual in.sight user conference + expo.
This tool will help stabilize heating fuel distributions in times of emergency by enabling carriers and their customers to know how much fuel their heating sources are consuming and how much fuel they have in reserve. The availability of this information enables customers to ensure that levels never dip to critical levels, which will help provide heat to homes in times of extreme cold.
The Degree Day Forecaster module enables carriers to accurately plan their routes according to customer demand. While carriers might attempt to guess when a customer would need more fuel based on order history or when seasonal fuel consumption levels are above normal, this tactic is not useful during times of extreme cold weather. The manual process of calling customers and asking if they needed fuel is time consuming and often meaningless as customers do not usually have sensors to gauge how much fuel they actually have. This process does not account for increased fuel consumption as heating units age.
"The Degree Day Forecaster module was specifically designed to address some of the challenges that carriers in the energy sector face," said Ray West, senior vice president and general manager of TMS solutions, Trimble Transportation Enterprise. "With our new module, carriers will be able to improve operating efficiencies and lower costs, which can result in improved margins. That's especially important in today's market when carriers are operating at very slim margins."
Because the module is SaaS-based, customers have the option of choosing a weather source capable of calculating their degree days according to their specific location. By doing so, carriers and their customers can factor in microclimates—areas that may be a short distance apart that have varying weather—such as a location on top of a hill and one in the valley. The degree days along with precise consumption factors will aid carriers and their customers in more accurately monitoring fuel levels. This will help carriers optimize the delivery amounts, which can result in fewer deliveries and lower costs.
"Carriers will be able to take on more customers with the improved planning and routing capabilities that they will have with this new module," West said. "The Degree Day Forecaster module complements our Fuel TMS solution and will simplify the fuel supply chain for better customer service, increased asset productivity and more accurate billing."