Who’s Your Data? Benchmarking tools for the Internet age
By Bethany May Managing Editor
On September 1, the Arkansas
Trucking Association partnered with the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) to promote the new inGauge Online Performance Benchmarking Service to ATA members. inGauge™ allows motor carriers and their employees to anonymously compare their operational results on performance metrics against a chosen peer group and share best practice knowledge to enhance future results. It is an online monthly sub- scription service that aims to get com- panies engaged in conversations about moving the industry forward through healthy competition. inGauge’s president and co-founder
Chris Henry says, “You would think that there is active discussion amongst people as to business practices and financial comparisons that kind of thing, but in reality, the trucking indus- try in general is underserved in bench- marking.” It’s not that the discussion isn’t
taking place at all. The problem is those discussions of comparing business prac- tices and performance are so isolated that much of the industry has been excluded. What inGauge aims to do is to invite more companies into the dis- cussion by logging on.
BUILDING THE CADILLAC Benchmarking isn’t new to the
industry. In fact, TCA has been running a successful benchmarking program for over 15 years called the ‘best practices group.’ Five different groups of either
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 5 2015
“YOU WOULD THINK THAT THERE IS ACTIVE
DISCUSSION AMONGST PEOPLE AS TO BUSINESS PRACTICES AND FINANCIAL COMPARISONS THAT
KIND OF THING, BUT IN REALITY, THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY IN GENERAL IS UNDERSERVED IN BENCHMARKING.”
—CHRIS HENRY, PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER OF INGAUGE
dry van, flatbed or refrigerated carriers come together to compare and contrast their business performance and prac- tices on specific metrics. TCA’s vice president Debbie Sparks
explains that the group members send in their financials for TCA to aggregate and determine where a company stands in comparison to its peers. Then, the groups come together to “get into the numbers.” “They don’t necessarily get into
the numbers—they get into the mean- ing behind the numbers. So when they meet, what they’re saying, I’m watching your numbers. What did you do differ- ently last quarter than you were doing
before? Why is it that you’re costs in this area are so much lower?” What the benchmarking groups
really offer, Sparks says, is an analy- sis of the numbers. Cause and effect. What practices cause performance to be affected? And how can any member in the group learn from another com- pany’s successes or flops. The benchmarking groups exist to
help companies assess how they stack up against competition and how to be more competitive, which is informa- tion that all carriers could use. Enter inGauge.
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