PSA is improving its truck operational efficiency in Singapore with a cloud-based transport management system called OptETruck.
Powered by HERE Tour Planning and Location Services, OptETruck allocates jobs to drivers based on their location, offering real-time optimisation of routes and truck assignments. This not only minimises the number of empty trips (that is truck trips without any freight loaded), but also ensures that drivers are allocated jobs in proximity to their current location. As such, it improves overall transit and waiting times, drivers’ well-being and operational efficiency, while reducing carbon emissions.
It took two months to develop a minimum viable product before OptETruck went live in January 2023. “We worked closely with stakeholders including external haulier companies, to ensure that the project meet their specific requirements. This iterative process involved co-defining specifications, conducting user acceptance tests and live trials,” says Sriram Ramanujam, assistant vice president for Community and Digital Solutions at PSA.
Apart from transport management capabilities, OptETruck also features automated scheduling and asset pooling.
“Automated scheduling is enabled by a real-time resource-matching algorithm and predictive modelling to maximise resource utilization. With this, OptETruck can match and recommend jobs so that hauliers are able to reduce the number of empty trips made across various supply chain nodes,” explains Ramanujam.
He continues: “[Meanwhile,] asset pooling enables hauliers and their partners to share resources, allowing them to optimise their fleet, manpower allocation and trips. Data simulations have shown that these capabilities can help reduce empty trips by more than 50%.” This translates to an annual reduction of approximately 10 million kg of carbon emissions, equivalent to planting 300,000 trees in a year.
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To deliver those capabilities, OptETruck is integrated with the Port Community Solution (PORTNET in Singapore), customers’ Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for order uploads/downloads, in-vehicle devices / mobile apps for drivers to have full visibility, finance/ERP systems for billing and accounting, as well as other Internet of Things sensors like chassis trackers.
“OptETruck has met the needs of Singapore’s trucking community and sets the stage for a sustainable future, transforming the logistics industry into a well-connected and resilient hub, aligning perfectly with our commitment to contributing to Singapore's vision as a smart nation. We look forward to continuing this journey of pioneering innovative solutions with HERE, shaping the future of port logistics and further solidifying PSA's position as a global leader in the port and supply chain industry," says Ramanujam.
Kushal Rajveer, head of Supply Chain for Asia Pacific at HERE Technologies adds: “Working closely with the Digital Transformation arm of PSA, we designed a solution that utilises location technology to address the specific challenges of the container truck ecosystem around the Port of Singapore. We’re pleased with the results from early adopters of the OptETruck, which has given PSA confidence to onboard more than 50% of container trucks entering and exiting Singapore’s ports by the end of this year.”
