Freightliner Corp. is a truck builder, not a tech company. But no manufacturer in the industry has done more thinking about how to use e-commerce and information systems to strengthen ties with its customers.

“If all we did was build trucks, we’d be the last dog in the pack instead of the one out front,” says Mark Lampert, the company’s senior vice-president of sales and marketing. “A truck by itself isn’t enough to earn customer loyalty anymore. Being able to add value is what makes the difference, and I mean real value, the kind that has an impact on the P&L statements.”

Freightliner has a nearly 15-year track record of using technology to try to resolve issues that typically hinder a truck from being used for its intended purpose: making money by moving freight. It partnered with software giant Microsoft 10 years ago to create ServicePro, Freightliner’s hands-on documentation, diagnostics, parts ordering, and repair-order preparation system for dealer and customer service bays. The company’s suite of software has swelled to include SpecPro vehicle specifying software, the LocatorPro used-truck database, and the Fleet Assistant operations-management package.

“I find that most customers will readily adopt technology if it means taking the worry out of warranty tracking or filling parts inventory or some other task that’s a headache for them,” Lampert explains. “Other customers are so gung-ho about technology that sometimes I wonder whether we’re moving fast enough.”

Freightliner doesn’t lack the horsepower or the confidence to be a technology resource for others. It is well capitalized, having been wildly successful at selling trucks in recent years, and it has smartly forged strong development alliances. Last fall, the company extended its partnership with Microsoft to develop future Internet strategies, particularly in the area of e-commerce transactions.

Meantime, Freightliner has been a prolific developer of products designed to smooth the flow of information among truckers, dealers, and the home office in Portland, Ore. Within the past 18 months, the company released three significant initiatives:

o Internet-based driver and maintenance manuals at www.alliancesupport.com, the Web site of the truckmaker’s Alliance parts and service division;

o LocatorPro, giving customers access to the company’s used-truck inventory through its SelecTrucks used-truck outlets, as well as Freightliner and Sterling dealers; and

o Fleet Assistant for Windows, which uses the Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT operating system, bringing powerful fleet-management capability to the desktop PC or a client-server situation.

Fleet Assistant is the sort of information toolbox that Freightliner has used to ingratiate itself into a trucking operation to the point of the OEM becoming indispensable-which for Freightliner is an obvious benefit. The software can schedule preventive maintenance, track parts and labor costs by vehicle, control parts inventory, analyze new vehicle and replacement parts warranties, and create lifecycle cost reports.

As repair orders are loaded into the system, managers can analyze the costs of parts, labor, and outside repairs, as well as compare operating, incidental, or fixed costs for every piece of equipment in the fleet. The program can use the data to generate customized reports-to highlight patterns of component failure or excessive fuel or oil consumption, for instance. The information can also be used to project vehicle costs to retirement to determine trade cycles for replacing equipment.

The new Windows version is more flexible than the previous one running on DOS or Unix: it can be used for any size truck fleet-10 to 100,000 trucks. And those rigs don’t have to be badged Freightliner or Sterling. Better still, you can use any ODBC relational database as your source data. A system that is ODBC, or “Open Database-Compliant,” is not tied to a proprietary database so it can extract information from a variety of software.

“That’s real customer support,” Lampert says enthusiastically. For customers, finding a fleet management system that’s easily compatible with dispatch, accounting, and other types of software used by truck fleets can mean lower costs, a lighter load on management, more capital for other investments, even the chance to compete against players who are out of their league. Other truck manufacturers have developed electronic tools to help secure stronger bonds among buyers and their dealer network. Several focus on inventory control.

Paccar Inc.’s PremierCare Connect, for instance, links your parts inventory to your dealer’s parts department electronically. First, the customer is equipped with a PC system that connects to the dealer’s system. Then the dealer catalogs your on-hand inventory balance, and prints bar code labels for each part. As parts are removed from inventory, the label gets scanned. Early every morning, the dealer’s PC automatically retrieves all changes in inventory status from the previous day. These become daily automatic replenishment orders. The dealer then selects, invoices, and labels the parts for delivery to the customer and the customer scans the parts received into inventory. Customers can also label and track locally purchased parts.

The system can be expanded to let you create repair orders, schedule maintenance, and track all repair costs (parts and labor) per vehicle for any timeframe desired. With Fleet ECAT-an electronic parts catalog organized by chassis numbers-customers have access to fleet specific information at the click of a mouse. Listed by chassis number, each file contains a parts list and key drawings and illustrations to help with identification and installation procedures. This helps you identify all the parts you need for your repairs, including engine parts, and provides helpful aids for proper installation.

Volvo Trucks North America is right now testing an inventory control process whereby Volvo will assume responsibility for automatically replenishing the parts inventory of its individual dealers. Inventory management will be automated via Volvo’s corporate intranet, which links all dealers with the company’s mainframe systems. Volvo truck dealers can make more than 100 transactions on the system, from submitting new-truck orders, filing warranty claims and retrieving vendor product information to searching build records of individual Volvo trucks, searching vehicle repair histories, and tracking parts shipments via the Internet. Technicians will also be able to download the latest diagnostic information for Volvo electronically controlled engines, as well as the software necessary to update engine ECUs.

As part of the company’s Volvo Action Service 24-hour customer support program, customers whose truck is down can track the roadside assistance process via a password-protected page on Volvo’s Web site.

The trick, say plugged-in managers like Jerry Wickett, Volvo’s vice-president of customer support, is not to let data about any customer service action sit stalled at the roadside. For instance, Volvo will send details about each breakdown to its engineering groups so they can address today’s concerns in a more proactive manner by re-evaluating current designs. “The result could be an alternative design or a revised servicing procedure that’s implemented faster than ever before,” Wickett says.

Just another way to digest data and keep everyone in the loop.