In 2022, Estes Express Lines, a privately owned North American freight carrier, launched its Pickup Visibility application to provide shippers with detailed pickup data and other key information. 

To determine which data would be most valuable for that purpose, Estes consulted the third-party logistics provider Worldwide Express (WWEX), which services more than 120,000 shipments daily. Together, the two companies evaluated the terminology that would be easiest for employees to understand, and used the feedback to improve the layout and functionality of Estes’ application. 

Estes created a visual progress bar that displays real-time pickup milestones, including exceptions, stop updates, estimated time of arrival, driver’s name and PRO numbers for tracking. 

“We know that pickup is one of the most critical and stressful parts of the freight journey, so it was important to us to build the best pickup visibility technology in the industry,” said Estes president and chief operating officer Webb Estes.  

According to Mastio & Company’s 2022 Less-Than-Truckload Customer Value and Loyalty Study, on-time shipment pickup is ranked the third-most important concern among shippers, even though in most cases a PRO tracking number isn’t assigned to a shipment until the pickup has already occurred.  

The app allows shippers to track a pickup with their Estes pickup number before their shipment’s PRO has been assigned. Prior to the application, Estes customers would schedule a pickup and often end up needing to contact customer care for delivery information. Thirteen percent of Estes’ total customer-care cases involved issues related to pickup tracking, the carrier says. 

WWEX’s lack of visibility made it difficult to field pickup-related inquiries. To address the problem, WWEX designated a team of employees to verify the status of their daily LTL shipments. The tedious process required WWEX to contact carriers directly for updates. 

To build Pickup Visibility, Estes first needed an application programming interface (API) as well as a database to hold information from the Pickup system and drivers’ handheld devices. Then, it mapped out the data points to specific pickup milestones, using real-time information to calculate accurate ETAs. Data from drivers’ handhelds also identified and confirmed the pickup of each piece of freight. 

Estes also worked with WWEX to identify valuable pickup data and determine how best to display that information. The two companies developed customer-friendly verbiage for its tool, in the form of a series of easy-to-understand “Reason Codes.” 

Overall development for the application took Estes about one year, followed by two months of focused work to bring the product to market.  

Prior to the app’s launch, Estes Customer Care received around 9,000 calls and emails daily related to delivery inquiries. Since introducing Pickup Visibility, the company has reduced the number of daily calls and emails by 33%. The Pickup Tracking application receives around 7,400 hits per day. 

Estes believes its high customer adoption rate and reduced case count speak to the success of this application, especially as its number of unique users continues to rise. 

Claudia Diaz, customer service manager with InXpress, said the application “makes me want to book everything with Estes just for this function. Now if we could only get all the other carriers to follow suit, that would make my job so much easier.” 

Customer feedback for WWEX has been equally positive. The 3PL has eliminated more than 100 daily phone calls, reducing administrative time by two to three hours per day, equating to a savings of between 520-780 working hours per year. 

“Estes’ Pickup Visibility tool has been a huge asset to our team,” said WWEX operations manager Brandee Jamison. “The tool has allowed us to quickly get an update, see any exceptions and provide a PRO number once the shipment has successfully been picked up. Being able to get all the information from one click has made our team more efficient and has saved us two-plus hours a day. 

“I appreciate that Estes took the time to meet with us regarding our needs and built a tool that has exceeded our expectations,” Jamison said. “It truly has been a life saver, and not something you can find from any other carrier.” 

Resource Links:

Estes Express Lines, https://go.estes-express.com/

Worldwide Express, https://wwex.com/