Find your trailer
Find an Asset is a feature within the J.B. Hunt mobile app DRIVE. This feature provides drivers with the ability to locate their assigned trailers using GPS location data.
Table of Contents
The Problem
When drivers need to acquire a trailer for their load, they often find themselves navigating through vast trailer yards, complex customer locations, or lengthy rail yards. This situation has resulted in drivers spending anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half searching for their assigned trailers at certain locations. For drivers, time is money, and the time spent searching for a trailer is not compensated. Our aim is to provide drivers with the capability to locate their trailers using the GPS trackers equipped on every JBH trailer.
The Value
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For Drivers
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As mentioned earlier, time is money for drivers. The primary benefit of this solution would be for the drivers. By reducing the time spent searching for a container, drivers can complete their loads more quickly and potentially fit in an additional load during the day. This could result in an additional income of $75-200 per day, depending on the type of load.
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For the Business
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Avoidance of delay fees incurred when loads are delivered after their scheduled appointment times.
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Increased number of loads moved throughout the day, enabling JBH to transport more freight daily.
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Enhanced trailer utilization and optimization.
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This is achieved by reducing instances where drivers abandon the search for their assigned trailer and opt for the first one they come across.
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The Process
Research and Discovery
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Our researcher, myself, and members of the product team conducted in-person research with drivers. Our goal was to accompany drivers on their routes to observe firsthand the challenges they faced. Following this, I facilitated an in-person workshop with the drivers. During the workshop, I outlined the problem statement and our objectives. I guided the drivers through a solution workshop, encouraging them to share their insights and ideas through sketches and discussions.
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In addition to the workshops, we also administered a survey to collect feedback from drivers. We received nearly 150 responses within a span of 3 hours.
Workshops
After gathering the research, I led multiple workshop sessions with the product team, similar to the one I conducted with the drivers. This workshop involved Product Owners (PO), Development Leads, Business Analysts (BA), a Product Manager, and Field Managers.
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Ideation Session
We started with our first workshop, which was the ideation session. This was about a three hour long meeting, where everyone sketched their ideas, brought them to the table, and then presented their ideas. Some people wrote their ideas, some people did very simple sketches, and a couple did high fidelity mocks. The goal of the workshop is to gather everyone's view point on how we can solve the problem. To make sure we gather as many view points as possible we have the Product Owners, Business Analysts, driver representation, Developers, UX Designers, and Product Managers. This allows us to all come together and leave the ideation session with a unified idea of how we want to solve the problem.
While each person is presenting, the others are taking notes on their likes, the challenges, and the what-ifs of each idea. A lot of the challenges come from the developers as they're seeing things that probably wouldn't be technically feasible.
02
Prioritization Session
After the solution session, everyone votes on which ideas they liked the most. I then take all of those ideas and votes, and categorize them all. This is in preparation for our prioritization session. For the prioritization session, our goal is to narrow down the ideas based on level of effort, value to the business, and value to the drivers. The developers can really speak to the effort. The the BAs and the the transportation manager, who is representing the driver, can speak to the value it provides to the business and the driver.
After we sort through all of those items, we leave the workshops with a good idea of what the solution will look like. One of the best parts is that everyone is aligned on the direction from the start as well, which makes the process and defense of the solution much easier.
Designs and Design Reviews
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After the solution workshop, I have a very clear vision of what the design should look like. I combine everyone's sketches and the discussed ideas to create mockups for a proposed solution.
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Next, I scheduled two design review sessions with the core working team to evaluate the proposed solution.
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The first session allows the team to dissect the solution, identifying any gaps or necessary changes.
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In the second session, adjustments are made based on the feedback, and we review the solution again to ensure alignment.
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Finally, I presented the solution to the stakeholders, marking the final step in the design process. As a team, we were able to articulate the rationale behind every decision, effort level, and value because everyone contributed to the process. This led to a highly productive review and satisfied stakeholders.
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One key decision we made was regarding the process for drivers requesting a new trailer. During our solution sessions, we discovered that we could provide drivers with information about the closest available trailers. This approach offers several benefits: 1.) It enables drivers to quickly find a new trailer. 2.) We can suggest trailers that haven't been used recently, which is critical for preventing mechanical issues caused by trailers sitting idle for too long
User Testing
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Before fully releasing the solution to the developers, we conducted usability testing with drivers. We recruited 12 participants, all of whom expressed satisfaction with the solution. While there were a few suggestions to adjust some of the content, no major modifications were needed.
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User quotes and feedback:
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'If it gets implemented - will be very helpful, would cut down a lot of time.'
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'Walmart has thousands of acres of land, quick location is great.'
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'Compared to what I’m currently doing...going off a paper list, which is kind of backwards, this is a big improvement to what I'm doing now.'
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Results
Since the release of Find an Asset, we have gathered some post-implementation feedback from drivers. The overall sentiment has been highly positive. Drivers have reported, in some cases, a 90% decrease in the time needed to locate their assigned trailer. However, the release has not been live long enough to gather a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the overall benefits.