Case Study: Palmer-Donavin achieves up to 15% mileage reduction and 30%+ overtime cuts with Omnitracs

Palmer-Donavin Embraces Route Optimization and Mobile Dispatching to Improve Employee and Customer Experiences

Palmer-Donavin is a century-old Midwest wholesale distributor of residential building materials with eight divisions across Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota. Facing a cumbersome, paper-based dispatch process that required dispatchers to spend four+ hours daily arranging routes, the company struggled with inconsistent driver experiences, slow customer notifications and constant pressure to find new drivers.

After installing Omnitracs telematics in 2012, Palmer-Donavin implemented Omnitracs Routing and Dispatch and trained staff on a new workflow, adding Omnitracs Active Alert for real-time delivery updates. The converged solution cut route planning to about 45 minutes per day, reduced mileage up to 15% on select routes, lowered wear-and-tear and labor costs (including a 30%+ drop in overtime at one branch), and produced a 15–20% decline in inbound customer calls.

Palmer-Donavin

Tom Bartlett

Director of Operations