Fleet integrations turn data into real

For trucking fleets, the value of integrating technology platforms ultimately comes down to what they can do with the data.

At Decker Truck Line, one such project saved more than $240,000 in trailer maintenance costs in its first six months. Halvor Lines boosted driver compliance with optimized fuel stops from about 30% to 80%. And Roadmaster Group has used integrations to get scanned paperwork into the hands of billing staff within minutes of a delivery.

Those were among the examples shared during an integration panel moderated by Isaac Instruments at McLeod Software’s UC26 user conference.

The discussion was moderated by Matt Ruth, who oversees integrations and partnerships for Isaac, and included: Brent Ellis, vice president of business systems and processes at Decker Truck Line; Colin Bondy, software process engineer at Halvor Lines; and Christopher Stevens, senior director of IT at Roadmaster Group.

The three fleets have taken different approaches, but Ellis said there’s one thing he looks for when choosing technology providers.

“I have three vendors and about 14 partners,” he said. “I’ve said this for years: I look for partners, not vendors.”

With diesel prices around $6 a gallon in the United States, Ruth said fuel represents about 20% of the variable cost of operating a truck, making even small improvements meaningful across a large fleet.

Halvor, which runs nearly 700 trucks across van, flatbed, step deck, deck van and reefer operations, has integrated five systems to put optimized fuel stops directly into the driver workflow.

Every time load instructions are sent to the driver, Halvor’s integration obtains a fuel solution based in part on its negotiated fuel deals and places the stops directly into the workflow presented to the driver. Previously, drivers received turn-by-turn information in a text message and manually entered pickup, fuel and other stops into their GPS.

“Using five different vendor solutions, some custom code from McLeod and some developer muster from my team, we were able to get all of those working together,” Bondy said.

The result was an increase in compliance with recommended fuel stops from about 30% to 80%.

“We actually profited on our fuel surcharge during the height of the spike over the summer when the refineries were down on the Great Lakes,” Bondy said.

He added the company’s fuel costs remain significantly lower than before the integration, even as diesel prices remain near record highs. The fleet is now looking to push compliance into the 80-85% range and improve fuel intelligence for empty moves.

Bondy jokingly described the integration as “five systems in a trench coat.”

But the important part, he said, is that the complexity remains behind the scenes.

“Sharing the information with the driver in one pane of glass so that he has the intelligence he needs to be successful at the beginning of the trip” is critical, Bondy said. “Making it easy for our people to make the right decision is just so, so critical.”

Decker, which operates about 750 trucks and 1,400 trailers, has taken a similar approach to driver utilization. The fleet generates delivery information, which aggregates data from multiple carriers by trailer type, day of week and time of day to establish average dwell times at individual locations.

Decker pulls that information back into its system weekly. That means instead of assuming a driver will spend two hours at a stop, the system may know that location has averaged only 45 minutes of dwell time over the previous 60 days. That information can then be considered when optimizing routes and planning future loads.

“We get full use of the driver’s clock,” Ellis said.

Drivers largely don’t know the process is happening behind the scenes.

“It’s been huge from a utilization standpoint because you’re getting better utilization not only from your driver but from your equipment,” Ellis added.

Roadmaster Group, which operates a family of specialized fleets including van, tanker, flatbed and Conestoga operations, approached its technology decisions with a particular focus on driver experience.

“We wanted to provide the driver with something that they wanted to use, not that they needed to use,” Stevens said.

Its previous system had become frustrating for drivers, and Roadmaster wanted its replacement to provide an easier experience not only for hours of service, but also workflows and load information. Drivers were brought into the development process to test new functions and identify what they liked and didn’t like.

“Because I’m not using it; they are,” Stevens said. “So that was important for us.”

Halvor takes a similar approach, using a group of pilot drivers to test new technologies before rolling them out fleetwide.

“We talk it to death before I roll it out to the rest of the fleet,” Bondy said.

Ellis, who spent about 13 years as a driver before moving into technology, said he has become a “mad scientist with the forms” since Decker began implementing Isaac.

“The driver wants to do their job and they want to do it correctly, but they want to do it quick and keep the wheels rolling,” he said.

Decker has created forms allowing drivers to submit information and photos following cargo claims, accidents or equipment damage. An API then creates the appropriate record in McLeod and makes the information available to claims staff within seconds.

Another project under development addresses a common headache for its roughly 400 reefer trucks: trailer washouts.

Currently, a driver calls the office and someone manually checks the route and a spreadsheet of approved washout locations. Finding an appropriate facility can take 15-20 minutes.

The new workflow asks the driver about the trailer’s condition, then uses information already contained in the platform to identify the truck’s location and destination. It plots approved washout facilities along the route and considers what contaminants each can handle, prices and payment methods.

Once a washout is selected, it can be added to the order and payment arranged automatically. Ellis estimates the system will eliminate about 95% of those phone calls.

“The driver doesn’t have to do anything except click the button and say, ‘Here’s what’s in the trailer,’” he said.

Faster paperwork, faster billing

Roadmaster has used integrations to tackle another longtime trucking headache: paperwork.

“We hire the drivers to drive,” Stevens said. But the fleet still needs signed bills of lading and other documents returned quickly.

Drivers are now required to scan paperwork through their workflow at the destination. Assuming the copy is legible, billing receives it immediately and can invoice within 24 hours.

If the scan isn’t clear, billing can request another and receive it within minutes. Customs documents can be handled the same way.

“It’s very beneficial not only for the billing department, for the operations department to ensure they’ve got whatever paperwork is required,” Stevens said.

One of Decker’s biggest integration wins came from looking at trailers that weren’t moving. The fleet had traditionally maintained trailers based on time. But at one shipper location, Decker had 82 trailers in the pool and discovered only 31 had actually been loaded during the previous seven months.

The same trailers were being used repeatedly, while others largely sat. Decker pulled data from its maintenance system and combined it with dispatch mileage to calculate how far each trailer had traveled since its previous PM.

It then converted trailer maintenance from a time-based to mileage-based schedule.

“Within the first six months of that, we saved a little over $240,000 in maintenance costs,” Ellis said. “And it was maintenance that didn’t need to be done.”

His explanation was simpler still: “Things don’t wear out when they sit still.”

APIs have become central to how the fleets connect their various systems.

“If there’s an API available, we leverage it in some way,” Ellis said. “At this point, it’s 2026. It’s common sense.”

But he cautioned against trying to integrate every available piece of data at once. Data mapping is often the hardest part, and fleets can quickly overwhelm themselves.

“Get what’s important and then build from there,” he said.

Bondy said Halvor is going a step further by developing its own API surface, allowing approved vendors to access selected data while the fleet maintains control over what information leaves its systems. That has changed how he thinks about integrations.

“I’m starting to think about integration more as business partnership rather than just code or just API understanding,” he said.

Security has also become a top consideration. Bondy revealed Halvor recently lost about $8,500 after a bad actor compromised one of its systems and was sophisticated enough to defeat an integration intended as a guardrail against fraudulent wire transfers.

“Security is absolutely the top,” he said. “Security is so, so, so important when looking for vendor partners.”

For Ellis, that need for cooperation reinforces the distinction between buying a product and choosing a technology partner. When Decker is considering building something itself, he wants to know whether a provider already has a similar capability on its roadmap.

“If any provider is looking at doing what we need in the next six months, we don’t want to spend five months building it,” he said. “We’ll wait.”

And chances are, he added, Decker won’t be the only fleet looking to solve the same problem.

James Menzies is editorial director of Today's Trucking and trucknews.com. He has been covering the Canadian trucking industry for more than 25 years and holds a CDL. Reach him at james@newcom.ca or follow him on X at @JamesMenzies.