Commercial Carrier Journal has named Aim Transportation its 2024 CCJ Innovator of the Year for the development and deployment of a text-based mobile app feature for over-the-road maintenance calls.
Aim was selected by CCJ editors as the 2024 CCJ Innovator of the Year at the 20th annual CCJ Innovators Summit in Key Largo, Florida, Thursday night. The event gathers current and previous CCJ Innovators for three days of networking, presentations and idea sharing among some of the trucking industry’s most forward-thinking fleets and leading executives. During the year, CCJ, a national leading business magazine for truck fleet executives, highlights one fleet each month as part of its CCJ Innovators program.
Aim was in a class of other industry-leading fleets recognized by CCJ editors throughout 2023 including Ryder, FirstFleet, Solar Transport, Walmart, ArcBest, Brakebush Transportation, FedEx, Budd Van Lines, Averitt, DHL and Garner Trucking. Aim was recognized in September for an add-on layer to its Navigator mobile app that allows its fleet customers, namely drivers, to communicate with Aim's Road Rescue service team through the app via text. Drivers previously would call in, but Aim Transportation Solutions Vice President of Software Development Dan Kellgren noted that Road Rescue could only field one phone call at a time, whereas via text operators could field and manage multiple inbound issues at once.
An add-on to the app is a language tool that allows Aim to communicate with non-English-speaking users in their native language. Kellgren noted the app would display messages to the customer in whatever language setting the user had enabled on their mobile device, Spanish for example. Meanwhile, all the Road Rescue agents inputs were in English. Customer replies are similarly converted to English for the Road Rescue team.
Even in cases where some language barriers remain – in cases where an equivalent Spanish-language word doesn't exist, for example – Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology John Reed said the app's ability to translate the message at least gives Road Rescue an idea of the issue at hand. Via phone, "we might not have any idea what the problem is, and they don't know how to tell us," he said.
RescuePro manages all the inbound and outbound communication traffic for Aim, helping the company keep it all in one place and organized which expedites solutions. Having a central point of communication allows Aim to communicate with the driver and provide real-time updates on the status of their case without phone calls between multiple parties.
