Freight carriers won't wait for 3G wireless

With customers demanding service now, carriers are opting for slower existing technologies.

By Bob Brewin

June 24, 2002 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - ABF Freight Systems Inc., Airborne Express and Consolidated Freightways Corp. have all decided that they don't really need the third-generation (3G) high-speed mobile data hyped by the cellular industry. The companies are deploying current-generation wireless systems to a total of almost 30,000 mobile workers.

These companies can't afford to wait for cellular carriers to turn on their multibillion-dollar nationwide high-speed networks, said Marty Larson, senior vice president of sales at Vancouver, Wash.-based Consolidated.

Customers are used to obtaining real-time visibility of their shipments from United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. and expect the same from their truckers, he added.

To meet that demand, Consolidated has started deploying 6,000 Web browser-equipped cell phones to its city pickup and delivery drivers running on the nationwide cellular network operated by Nextel Communications Inc. in Reston, Va.

Although the Nextel network operates at data rates far slower than those promised for 3G networks—20K to 40K bit/sec. vs. 144K bit/sec. for 3G—Larson said it's more than sufficient to transmit the limited amount of data Consolidated needs to provide real-time tracking information.


Motorola HDT (TM) 500 Series handheld data terminal

Nextel charges about $40 a month per phone for airtime but gives volume discounts to heavy users such as Consolidated. Larson said he expects a 24-month payback from the Nextel system, but he declined to provide specific financial details. Larson said he evaluated 3G systems but opted for the Nextel service because it was available immediately and is inexpensive.

Airborne Express, a unit of Seattle-based Airborne Inc., which competes head-on with Memphis-based FedEx and Atlanta-based UPS, knew it had to deploy a wireless system that offered the same shipment visibility as the industry leaders. But it was bound by a corporate culture that embraced technology slowly and demanded "extremely cost-effective" systems, said Dave Billings, Airborne's CIO.

Earlier this month, Airborne completed a field test of 3,000 handheld data terminals with bar-code scanners from Motorola Inc. in Schaumburg, Ill. The devices operate on either the Nextel network or the Mobitex packet data network operated by Cingular Wireless, which offers data speeds of just 8K bit/sec.

Airborne has had a strong return on investment with its mobile data system, Billings said, but he declined to provide details. Airborne expects to use the system "for at least the next five years," he said.

ABF Freight Systems, a subsidiary of Fort Smith, Ark.-based Arkansas Best Corp., plans to deploy 3,500 Nextel Web-browser phones to drivers and dock and yard workers, said Wes Kemp, the Roscoe, Ill.-based firm's vice president for terminal operations.

Kemp said ABF doesn't need high-speed data rates because a dockworker can record the routing of a shipment with two keystrokes. He added that the outbound shipment application paid for itself in three weeks.

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