During the Finished Vehicle Logistics North America conference in California this year, Alex McMall of Ford and Nathan Lawson of FreightVerify spoke on the advantages of telematics for transparent vehicle logistics in one of the four Ideas Labs.

Alex McMall, Ford's team lead for vehicle business solutions, was joined at Finished Vehicle Logistics North America 2024 by Nathan Lawson, vice-president of delivery and customer success at FreightVerify, a supplier of truck monitoring and supply chain visibility.

Ford and FreightVerify have been collaborating for five years, and the main component of the service is telematics tracking vehicle milestones, or obtaining position data from railcars or car carrier trucks. Ford prioritizes getting a more uniform measure of these milestones because finished car logistics vendors vary in their telematics reporting.

The industry is going through a very significant turning moment, according to McMall. "I believe that telematics has been the biggest differentiator when it comes to visibility."

According to McMall, telematics is actually what is driving ETA calculations and final mile visibility. While carmakers have different ways of aggregating the information, communication of vehicle milestones and providing visibility at handover points through the vehicle delivery chain is at an all-time high.

The Amazon effect is something that all of us must keep moving toward, according to McMall. We all feel that we need to advance, and today our main goal is to have an involved discussion about telematics, which is still the missing piece in our puzzle.

Transparent value

According to McMall, telematics has the ability to help both the shipper and the carrier. The full end-to-end transparency of the system unlocks its value proposition for the finished car logistics industry.

"Everyone wants to know where the vehicle is in real time, not from a report sent earlier in the day from the railroad," Nathan Lawson stated. "Real-time vehicle calculation is where it's at." When will the car arrive at its location, in addition to that? For the benefit of the dealer and the customer, it is beneficial to know the segment ETA.

Ford and FreightVerify are collaborating closely to offer that visibility, and the VinView solution from the technology provider gives dealerships access to vehicle status information.

Many of our network partners can check their milestone compliance or telemetry compliance, for example, by logging into FreightVerify. However, that platform will also be available to our network partners for information sharing," added McMall.

According to Lawson, complete agreement on delivery standards for all partners reduces costs, dwell and transit times, and enhances asset utilization.

According to McMall, "the truth is that visibility allows you to address some of the dwell issues and it allows for better planning across the supply chain." Haulaway carriers aim to expedite the process of moving VINs. You can resolve the points of disagreement in your supply chain if you are aware of where they are.

By providing the dealer with increased visibility, FreightVerify's platform also empowers them to take action, such as picking up the vehicles personally.

The dealer has been able to take matters into their own hands and go seize the cars, which is incredibly important, according to Lawson. "It's been a huge win for the OEMs that have deployed it, as well as a win for customer satisfaction."

To prevent harassment from manufacturers if something delays a vehicle in transportation, manufacturers want to limit the amount of information they share with the dealer. However, it's also important to strike a balance in this regard.