Swift Transportation possesses the largest truckload fleet in the United States and Mexico, and operates a fleet of 18,000 tractors and 52,000 trailers from a network of more than 30 terminals. Swift serves as a core carrier for several large shippers (Wal-mart, Target) by transporting goods such as paper products, building materials, and retail store merchandise.

Challenges/
Need:

Poor, costly communication between the Swift Corporate offices and its truck drivers. The Swift truck drivers often work long nights and off business hours. As a result, they had minimal communication with management who worked normal 8-5 shifts. Swift drivers also had limited corporate communication and their only access to email while on the road was through a costly Qualcomm satellite connection on the trucks.

Ineffective Distribution of information. Swift had no way of easily distributing valuable HR and benefits information, training and safety information, new laws/regulations, and the state permits that are enforced for drivers. To improve productivity and efficiency, new value needed to be created from legacy systems by leveraging existing “concealed” data and finding a more economical method of distributing this information.

Employee call center bottle necks and poor response times. Swift was operating a 24 x 7/M-F 11 hour a day call center operation. Extended coverage teams supporting thousands of drivers were also engaged for after hours support. Call center hold times often reached 30 minutes for drivers inquiring about payroll, human resource policies or benefits.  To improve the quality of care to the drivers, an improved methodology of employee self service was needed.

Employee Dissatisfaction and Retention Issues. Drivers were becoming unsatisfied with Swift’s decentralized organization, their dependence on others to relay information and most importantly, being disconnected from friends and family. These issues were causing high truck driver turnover rates of 100% and above. The application had to be simple, helpful and unique and provide Swift with a distinct competitive edge that could be used as a recruiting tool. 

IBM
Technology

Metrics
of Success:

Payroll Service Improvements
80% reduction in total calls
Abandoned calls decreased: 30% to 5%
Average hold time decreased: 30min to under 2min
Callers more prepared, shortening call time

Cost Savings
Existing Qualcomm fees: $.05/256 characters sent.
Drivers now send email through portal.
Reduction in employee turnover and new hir costs  

• Lotus Notes Email/Calendar/Contacts
• Payroll and Paycheck History
• Benefits (medical, dental, 401k, enrollment forms)
• Company News and Information
• Training and Safety Manuals
• Truck Driver Permits
• Swift Driver Handbook
• Frequently Asked Questions

The solution demonstrates strength of IBM’s WebSphere Portal to seamlessly integrate with a variety of back end applications. Using a single login and password, data is pulled from a variety of data stores including AS/400, SQL, Domino databases, and a Documentum application. The drivers can print payroll stubs, training and safety material and permits directly from the kiosks. When finished, the drivers are automatically logged out of the kiosk portal when they step off of the kiosk mat. Swift is now able to reduce the participation of IT and has shared the responsibility with the line of business in the content management publishing process. With the implementation of WCM, they are now benefiting from the capabilities of integrated approval and publishing of content into the portal. The solution demonstrates strength of IBM's WebSphere Portal to seamlessly integrate with a variety of back end applications. Using a single login and password, data is pulled from a variety of data stores including AS/400, SQL, Domino databases, and a Documentum application.