Case Study: Alexander Lumber Company achieves 14-minute truck turnarounds and $1.4M/month revenue boost with GPS Insight

Quicker Turnarounds are a Boost to the Bottom Line

Alexander Lumber Company, a building-materials distributor founded in 1891 with 10 retail yards and two component plants across Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, faced a costly problem: trucks sitting in yards meant lost revenue and delayed customer deliveries. With a fleet of more than 100 vehicles, the company needed to cut turnaround times to increase capacity and keep delivery commitments.

By implementing GPS Insight under the leadership of fleet manager Bob Knowles, Alexander set a 20-minute turnaround goal and achieved an average of about 14 minutes—a 30% reduction—using features like landmark alerts so yard crews can prep when a truck is 10 minutes out. The faster turnarounds enabled nearly 3,000 annual turns at one location, let half the heavy-duty trucks in Chicago add an extra delivery per day (boosting that location’s revenue by about $1.4M per month), improved on-time performance and driver accountability, and increased deliveries per vehicle without buying more equipment.

Alexander Lumber Company

Rick Vancil

Executive Vice President