7. Conclusions and Implications
The economic analysis of CVISN from a motor carrier perspective indicates significant, near-immediate financial benefits to carriers from taking part in electronic (web-based) credentials administration, and substantial benefits to carriers from enrolling their trucks in electronic screening programs or partnerships. The study targeted large motor carriers in states known to be active in CVISN. Almost all of the responding companies (97 percent) participate in electronic credentials administration, and a strong majority of responding companies (75 percent) use some kind of transponder-based preclearance or e-screening technology in their trucks.
7.1 Summary of Findings
The following key findings emerged from the economic and qualitative analysis. All conclusions reflect the information collected from a selection of motor carriers who participated in telephone interviews for this business case.
Electronic Credentialing
- Motor carriers expressed a high degree of satisfaction with their experiences in using electronic credentialing. The respondents unanimously agreed that electronic credentialing had generated net financial benefits to their company and when asked why their company had chosen to move toward electronic credentialing, most indicated that the acceleration of credentialing (26 out of 38 respondents) and labor time savings (24 out of 38 respondents) were the most significant reasons.
- Carriers also highlighted the benefits of integrating computing technology into the credentialing process, either through its ability to reduce errors and the number of corrections needed or the ability to store and track information electronically.
- Startup and annual recurring costs associated with electronic credentialing are minimal. Motor carriers reported in some cases the need to improve hardware ($50 per motor carrier), obtain computer technical support (1 hour at $75 per hour), and incur other training-related costs ($150). Total startup costs are estimated at $275 per carrier, and annual recurring costs are estimated at $125 per company.
- On the benefit side, motor carriers indicated that on average, electronic credentials accelerated the time required to place new trucks into service by an average of 3 to 4 days, at a savings of $371 per truck. This savings is based on the finance charges accruing on vehicles as they await credentials. Increased fleet utilization is the most significant benefit associated with electronic credentialing resulting in $413,065 in savings to the average motor carrier in the first year of the analysis time horizon.
- The second largest benefit associated with electronic credentialing is reduced labor costs. On average, companies save 10 to 12 minutes per transaction resulting in labor cost savings of $4.13 per transaction. Cost savings associated with materials (e.g., paper, envelopes) and postage not used in electronic transactions were estimated to reduce costs by an additional $1 per transaction. The transaction-based benefits (labor, materials, and postage) result in approximately $12,855 in savings in the first year of using electronic credentialing.
- Over the 10-year ROI time horizon, total net benefits per carrier are estimated at $3.6 million, resulting in an overall return on investment of 2,971:1 and a payback period of less than one month.
- A theme that emerged from the notes and comments based on the telephone interviews was that carriers desire increased uniformity in credentialing processes across jurisdictions.
- While carriers were generally satisfied with the level of technical support they receive when solving problems in electronic credentialing, some carriers expressed a desire for 24 hour/day availability of credentialing systems and support personnel.
- Some carriers cited the improved turnaround time provided by electronic credentialing as a factor in increased office efficiency and improved driver satisfaction and retention.
Electronic Screening
- Time savings and labor cost savings were the top two reasons cited for participating in electronic screening programs.
- Quicker delivery times, reduced wear and tear on vehicles, and enhanced safety were also cited.
- A number of respondents advocated for greater uniformity and interoperability in electronic screening programs. One carrier noted that with competing electronic screening programs and toll roads, a single truck can be equipped with five or more transponders. Other carriers noted that sometimes transponders interfere with each other.
- The time savings per bypass was estimated at 3 to 5 minutes based on prior studies. The motor carriers contacted for this study, however, indicated that time savings per bypass could reach as high as 20 minutes.
- The operating cost savings (for the motor carrier company) per bypass was estimated to be $8.68, which is the product of the estimated time savings per bypass and documented heavy truck operating costs per minute. Total net benefits associated with electronic screening over the 10-year analysis time horizon ranged from $3.2 million to $219.4 million per company.
- Enrolled motor carriers are experiencing significant returns on their investment in electronic screening technologies, with ROI ratios for all but one of the companies evaluated ranging from 6.1:1 to 15.9:1. In all cases, the payback period for e-screening was less than one year.
- The annual net benefit per transponder-equipped truck was estimated at $1,169.
- Electronic screening is perceived as a significant enhancement for driver satisfaction and morale improvement, helping motor carriers recruit and retain drivers. This in turn reduces the cost of driver training. Screening is also perceived to be beneficial because drivers that bypass scales have less nonproductive downtime that counts against their hours-of-service allowances.
- Some carriers expressed interest in a simpler, universal, “nationwide” transponder.
General Conclusions
- The economic benefits of CVISN as reported by the carriers in dollar terms match consistently with the most important benefits as perceived by the carriers. That is, the carrier representatives responding to this survey appear to have an accurate understanding of the business benefits associated with CVISN deployment.
- The industry analysis indicates that, while only about half of responding motor carrier companies recognize the abbreviation “CVISN” per se, there is within the industry an awareness of and a positive business attitude toward the underlying technologies that constitute CVISN.
7.2 Implications for Future Research
By design, CVISN technologies have historically tended to be adopted first by larger trucking companies, which are in a better position to realize economies of scale from the deployment of computer-based information technologies and intelligent transportation systems focused on interstate operation. Future research could explore the ways in which CVISN technologies could be adapted to better meet the business needs of smaller motor carrier fleets and owner-operators. These smaller companies might, for example, conduct credentialing transactions only once per year for fewer than 20 power units, so it may be more difficult for them to justify the time required to convert from paper-based to electronic credentialing methods.
This business case has provided an outline of the reasons—both pro and con—that carriers use when deciding whether to adopt CVISN technologies for their companies. Survey respondents may have many motives, beyond the reasons given in a brief telephone interview, for the complex business decisions they make. Future market-type research could attempt to tease out the underlying business principles and practices that attract some companies to new technology for safety, administration, and operations, while causing other companies to delay their adoption. Results of this research could be used in planning ITS deployments in both the public and private sectors to match carriers’ business needs, and in representing the service offerings through outreach, education, and information exchange intended to appeal to the motor carrier industry. The results may also be useful in refining services offered by states and vendors in plans for Expanded CVISN, the FMCSA’s Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 initiative, vehicle-infrastructure integration (VII), Electronic Freight Management, Wireless Roadside Safety Inspections for Trucks and Buses, and other initiatives.
CVISN technologies may eventually be further integrated and coordinated with other services and necessary on-board equipment, such as electronic cargo seals, hazmat tracking systems, homeland security and customs enforcement systems, and emission monitors. Significant benefits may be found in capitalizing on the synergies of state and federal programs, coupled with private-sector telematics and mobile resource management.
State transportation, public safety, and law enforcement officials can use the results of this business case to aid in planning the kinds of credentialing and screening programs to make available to motor carriers operating within their states, and to help decide which features or services should be included in future modifications of existing ITS initiatives such as CVISN.
Federal transportation officials and commercial vehicle operations analysts can use the results of this business case when deciding which technologies show the greatest promise of providing tangible benefits to the motor carrier industry, relative to the costs companies incur in deploying and operating such technologies. The industry perspective in turn feeds into a fuller understanding of how ITS can benefit society in general, through increased transportation safety, efficiency, and mobility.
An area of future research worth consideration is the attitude of the motor carrier industry toward economic payback for technology investments. The results of this analysis suggest that the payback period for moving to electronic credentialing is very short—less than 1 month. The payback period for initial investments in electronic screening is also quite short at less than 1 year, though much of the expense is tied to recurrent monthly fees paid to electronic screening partnerships and programs. These results indicate that these technologies are extremely cost beneficial to motor carriers.
Motor carriers, however, may have different expectations relating to payback periods when making decisions to invest in technologies. Thus, it would be extremely useful to gauge these expectations through motor carrier surveys designed to construct payback period curves, where the cumulative share of the motor carrier industry would be charted on the x-axis against payback period expectations on the y-axis. The point of this exercise would be determine what share of the industry would adopt a new technology given a 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, or 2-year payback period, etc. Results in other industries suggest that most consumers generally require payback periods of no more than 1 to 2 years to make the investment. If payback is delayed until the third year, there are few consumers who would be likely to invest in the technology. When considering private-sector investments in CVISN, it would be instructive to understand the industry’s expectations in order to place the findings of the business case in some context.
Other business factors affecting adoption of CVISN technologies may also come into play, including the need for education and outreach to the industry, so that more carriers know about the technologies (and the benefits) available to them in the states where they operate. Many motor carriers work on very narrow profit margins, and some may tend to focus on the cost side of the technology deployment equation. Some motor carriers may not recognize the value of the future benefits of technology to their particular operation, for example, the time that can be saved through electronic credentialing and screening, and the monetary value of this time savings.
In terms of research methodology, future work in the area of economics of ITS should focus on improved methods of surveying and obtaining real-world business information from a random, representative sample of motor carrier companies. Judging from the low rate of response (approximately 14 percent), the industry representatives contacted for this study appeared to be reluctant to take part in an unannounced, ad hoc telephone survey, despite repeated callback attempts and voice mail/e-mail messages left with carriers, in an attempt to increase the response rate.
Gaining buy-in among the industry in advance of survey initiation—with reassurance, for example, that information sharing will not harm any one company’s competitive position—might help analysts collect meaningful data from a larger population of motor carriers and might lead to more representative and significant conclusions.