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By Dan Leone, Staff Reporter

This story appears in the April 5 print edition of Transport Topics.

PeopleNet Communications said it won a contract with Frozen Food Express Industries Inc., under which PeopleNet will replace Qualcomm Inc. as the refrigerated carrier’s mobile communications vendor.

Frozen Food Express, Dallas, will install PeopleNet’s BLU onboard computers, the mobile communications provider said in a March 24 statement.

Nick Cook, Frozen Food Express’ chief information officer, said that “PeopleNet’s ability to provide us robust analytics and consultative process improvement through their Professional Services offering were huge factors for us.”

PeopleNet, Minnetonka, Minn., said it is putting greater emphasis on helping carriers collate and analyze the data collected by onboard computers and communications systems.

Besides the BLU computers, Frozen Food Express also ordered in-cab scanning systems from Xerox Corp.’s ACS TripPak unit and PeopleNet’s PACOS geofencing software.

A geofence is essentially an electronic perimeter barrier around a truck’s route on a digital map. Reaching certain points within a geofence — such as a yard gate — can trigger alerts for carriers, shippers and receivers. Geofencing can also be used as a security tool by alerting carriers when a truck leaves its assigned route.

Frozen Food Express also opted to install PeopleNet’s electronic onboard recorders. The company announced the decision ahead of the publication of the federal government’s EOBR rule.

Frozen Food Express has several trucking operations and handles primarily refrigerated freight in both truckload and less-than-truckload quantities.

LTL shipments outnumbered truckload shipments in 2009, according to the company’s latest 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The carrier reported that it hauled 247,000 LTL shipments and 154,000 truckload shipments last year.

PeopleNet has vigorously courted less-than-truckload carriers, which historically have not installed bulky onboard computer systems. PeopleNet, which won a contract with Old Dominion Freight Line last year, has said that LTLs are increasingly interested in the sort of onboard computers and tractor-tracking systems that have long been common in the truckload business.

A PeopleNet spokeswoman said that the company has signed 13 LTL carriers since January 2009.