Rethinking used vehicle logistics

Hauling new and used cars from dealer to dealer, from auction sight to dealer, from online dealer to customer, is one of those massive logistics activities hiding in plain sight. In the US alone, some 60 million new and used cars are sold every year, and each one is moved multiple times before the consumer takes his or her vehicle out on its initial spin.

In stark contrast to the well-ordered and efficient vehicle manufacturing supply chain, however, this branch of automotive logistics remains defused, disorganized and helter-skelter. Its technology, when it exists at all, is piecemeal and often outdated. Car haulers and their customers still rely on slips of paper, phones and guesswork. An average pickup is a bit more than a single car, so a car hauler may have seven pickups and seven different delivery destinations on a single journey.

Now, one of the leading players catering to this aspect of vehicle hauling has come up with what it says is the first specifically designed transportation management system. St. Louis-based Acertus unveiled VINlocity in mid-October. It’s now available only to used car dealers and franchised dealers, but has the potential of being used by car manufacturers as well as individual buyers.

“It’s a new approach. No one else on the planet is doing this,” claimed Acertus CEO Bill Billiter, in an interview with American Journal of Transportation. “This space is so undeveloped technologically, it’s like a greenfield opportunity for us.”

Acertus is the result of acquisitions by previous company Metrogistics of three other companies beginning in 2014. It calls itself a technology-enabled automotive logistics provider. In addition to haulage, Acertus also offers storage, last-mile delivery and title services.

Billiter likens VINlocity to Uber. The software matches shippers with carriers and their drivers, based on driver proximity to pick up, availability and destination. “Because we move about two to three thousand cars everyday, we know where two to three thousand carriers are going to be,” Billiter explained. “So we’re pushing this freight to them saying, [for example], ‘hey, we know you’re going to be in Chicago tomorrow. Here’s all the opportunities we have.’ They swipe, right. They get the load.”

Efficiencies and accuracy are at the heart of the software. According to Billiter, VINlocity can provide quicker delivery times and, for, an extra charge, an expedited schedule. A used car dealer, Billiter explained, may want some cars for inventory, others for an immediate sale. So, a dealer can spend a bit more and have a car delivered the next day, instead of two or three days.

VINlocity offers shippers a real-time window into delivery time. Delays and inaccurate delivery schedules have been a particular bane of vehicle hauling and frustration of the recipient. A truck driver typically calls a customer with an estimated time, but can easily get held up by traffic and other delays.

So far, Billiter said, the software tells shippers exactly when to expect delivery. But it has the capability of showing in real time where the vehicle exactly is.

Billiter believes this system can streamline the marketplace in many ways. First, it will create a much more accurate costing of the haul, and, by extension, the price of a used car. Acertus can, for example, provide nearly instantaneous quotes on haulage.

In the past, used car sourcing was local. Now, it’s becoming more regional and national. That’s true for online consumers as well as used car dealers, who may scrutinize auctions on the other side of the country. Getting those cars picked up and delivered quickly has been a major roadblock to this widened reach.

While used cars now constitute about 35% to 40% of its business, Acertus gets about half its business with car manufacturers, hauling new cars from dealer or dealer to dealer.