All transport companies are looking for ways to reduce the horrendous financial burdens that carriers have to face. Proper route planning for transport sets in companies with a transport fleet can reduce business operating costs by more than 25 percent. Representatives of the company Planung Transport Verkehr (PTV) from Karlsruhe, Germany, guarantee such benefits by introducing their PTV Intertour Compact system to the market. However, this offer is aimed at large transport companies with a fleet of more than 75 vehicles.
PTV Intertour Compact was introduced to the market at the end of 2007, and it has now been improved with many additional applications, which are particularly important for transport enterprises. Transport giants such as Kühne und Nagel Logistics Langenau and many major carriers specializing in supply chain services for sanitary and sewage equipment, as well as food and medical supplies, and those providing armored car services, have decided to take advantage of these options.
Calculations performed by the program help companies avoid problems with driver shortages in the market, as well as high customs and fuel fees. Every day, carriers and road transport managers struggle with these problems, which they can now avoid. All this is possible thanks to the planning of the most optimal routes, parking spaces, refueling stops, and loading/unloading points along the routes. Generally, competition between transport companies takes place by offering lower prices, and this is facilitated by lower costs obtained through advanced IT technologies that are replacing manual route planning.
In Polish conditions, this is a solution for large transport companies (often with their own truck fleet), for which a large number of transshipment points on routes and precise delivery deadlines, e.g., companies working in a just-in-time regime, are a major challenge.