Unregistered Carriers on 5/28/2009 - 3997
Unregistered Carriers on 5/29/2009 - 3960
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 39 / $3212 (avg $81)
By my calculations, we have 147 work days left in the current calendar year. If I divide my unregistered carrier total - 3997 - by 147, I get 27.19. This is the net average number of carriers I need to remove from my Unregistered List per day if I want to "get to zero" by the end of the calendar year. (I decided to bump it to 30 just so I (and my staff) could deal with a nice round number.) Remember that 30 is a net number - if I register 10 carriers (remove then from the list) and I get 4 new USDOT number carriers who need to register (add them the list), the net number of carriers I remove from my list is only 6.
My new adds today total 18 - ten new USDOT numbers and 8 "sideways" additions. I don't know about other states, but we seem to have a steady flow of new adds. We will "solicit" these carriers immediately. We also have seven "changes" - carriers that were on our list in a slightly different form (different address, phone, etc.) yesterday. We will contact these carriers immediately. Clearly, one of our main "getting to zero" strategies is to focus on those carriers with "fresh" information because we know that every one of them has just filled out a new MCS-150!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Another UCR Milestone!
Unregistered Carriers on 5/27/2009 - 4002
Unregistered Carriers on 5/28/2009 - 3997
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 18 / $1010 (avg $56)
We are now officially under 4,000 unregistered carriers! I know that doesn't sound like much of a milestone, but those of you who are following this blog know how much effort we are putting into "getting to zero", and we are pleased to see it!
You may have noticed that I've been posting our daily UCR registrations, the amount of revenue we receive from those registrations and the average registration amount. For the month, we have registered 568 carriers and collected just under $56,000.
As the remaining unknown (unregistered) carriers become the known (registered), we can see those registrations translating to an average of about $100 per registration. Even if every one of the remaining 3,997 carriers registers (which is highly unlikely because we believe another 10-20% of these records will be deactivated before it's all over), we will only generate $400,000 in additional revenue.
Is it worth the effort? That depends on how you look at it. Since we are committed to trying to "get to zero", the point is almost moot. But the discussion is worth having on a broader scale in light of the definition of the phrase "reasonable effort".
Unregistered Carriers on 5/28/2009 - 3997
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 18 / $1010 (avg $56)
We are now officially under 4,000 unregistered carriers! I know that doesn't sound like much of a milestone, but those of you who are following this blog know how much effort we are putting into "getting to zero", and we are pleased to see it!
You may have noticed that I've been posting our daily UCR registrations, the amount of revenue we receive from those registrations and the average registration amount. For the month, we have registered 568 carriers and collected just under $56,000.
As the remaining unknown (unregistered) carriers become the known (registered), we can see those registrations translating to an average of about $100 per registration. Even if every one of the remaining 3,997 carriers registers (which is highly unlikely because we believe another 10-20% of these records will be deactivated before it's all over), we will only generate $400,000 in additional revenue.
Is it worth the effort? That depends on how you look at it. Since we are committed to trying to "get to zero", the point is almost moot. But the discussion is worth having on a broader scale in light of the definition of the phrase "reasonable effort".
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
MCMIS Record Changes
Unregistered Carriers on 5/26/2009 - 4026
Unregistered Carriers on 5/27/2009 - 4002
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 34 / $3669 (avg $108)
One of the really nice features of the Iteris reports coupled with the spreadsheet comparison software is that we get to see the records of unregistered carriers that have changed since the previous day's report. We generally have 6-10 changes per day. Why is this significant? Because we know that the new information for this carrier is "fresh" - and most likely accurate! Many times an email address has also been added - and you know how much we like email addresses! Since the old information was probably inaccurate, it's a trigger for us to immediately contact these carriers with registration information.
Unregistered Carriers on 5/27/2009 - 4002
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 34 / $3669 (avg $108)
One of the really nice features of the Iteris reports coupled with the spreadsheet comparison software is that we get to see the records of unregistered carriers that have changed since the previous day's report. We generally have 6-10 changes per day. Why is this significant? Because we know that the new information for this carrier is "fresh" - and most likely accurate! Many times an email address has also been added - and you know how much we like email addresses! Since the old information was probably inaccurate, it's a trigger for us to immediately contact these carriers with registration information.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Getting to Zero - Why It's Important!
Unregistered Carriers on 5/22/2009 - 4080
Unregistered Carriers on 5/25/2009 - 4026
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 22 / $1204 (avg $54)
Some people would argue (and have argued!) that going after every carrier in our respective states is "not our job". Our job, to paraphrase the discussion, is to register the carriers who walk in the door - and let the roadside officers in our state and the other states find and take enforcement action against all the "scofflaws". Two tasks - register the carriers who come in and bang the rest at the road.
I have mixed feelings about this argument. I think I understand all the rationale for this position - resources, time, etc. We never seem to have enough of those.
For the moment, however, I'm going to focus on a different issue - fairness to the carriers.
I think I can safely say that today, May 26th, there are legitimate carriers in my state with legitimate USDOT numbers who are registered as legitimate "active interstate carriers" who know nothing about UCR. Legitimately! Even after all the effort we're putting forth. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that every state has them.
So, why should their first encounter with UCR result in a ticket? Not only is that bad for business, but it begs the question of whose job it is!
"Getting to zero" says it's our job. If we contact them all, they can't plead ignorance. And, so far, many carriers have thanked us for contacting them because they, in fact, had never heard of the program and they don't WANT their first encounter with UCR to result in a ticket! Many of them register as soon as we contact them.
Everybody wins. That's what it's all about.
Unregistered Carriers on 5/25/2009 - 4026
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 22 / $1204 (avg $54)
Some people would argue (and have argued!) that going after every carrier in our respective states is "not our job". Our job, to paraphrase the discussion, is to register the carriers who walk in the door - and let the roadside officers in our state and the other states find and take enforcement action against all the "scofflaws". Two tasks - register the carriers who come in and bang the rest at the road.
I have mixed feelings about this argument. I think I understand all the rationale for this position - resources, time, etc. We never seem to have enough of those.
For the moment, however, I'm going to focus on a different issue - fairness to the carriers.
I think I can safely say that today, May 26th, there are legitimate carriers in my state with legitimate USDOT numbers who are registered as legitimate "active interstate carriers" who know nothing about UCR. Legitimately! Even after all the effort we're putting forth. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that every state has them.
So, why should their first encounter with UCR result in a ticket? Not only is that bad for business, but it begs the question of whose job it is!
"Getting to zero" says it's our job. If we contact them all, they can't plead ignorance. And, so far, many carriers have thanked us for contacting them because they, in fact, had never heard of the program and they don't WANT their first encounter with UCR to result in a ticket! Many of them register as soon as we contact them.
Everybody wins. That's what it's all about.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Officially Cool UCR Tool
Unregistered Carriers on 5/21/2009 - 4102
Unregistered Carriers on 5/22/2009 - 4080
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 23 / $2165 (avg $94)
OK, it's official now - this spreadsheet comparison tool is GREAT!
The software, working in conjunction with Iteris' Unregistered List reports, gives us instant information on every carrier who has been added to our list since the previous day (including email addresses). Keep in mind that we are not just seeing brand-new USDOT carriers. We are now seeing every carrier that was added to our list for any reason (inspection, crash, MCS-150 update, and so on).
Today, for example, we added 14 carriers to our Unregistered List. Eight of these carriers are brand-new USDOT numbers. The other six are what I referred to in previous posts as "sideways" additions - carriers who came in stealthily because of one of the reasons listed above.
Seven of these 14 carriers have email addresses, so we emailed them the "Our records show that your are not registered under the UCR program ..." email. We called the other seven carriers. Our call results: 4 voice mails left, one "no" answer, one disconnected phone, and one guy who walked in and registered after we ran our list but before we called him. Shame on us for not thinking of that scenario! Total elapsed call time: 10 minutes.
The upshot: we expended very little physical effort and very little cost to contact ALL of our new additions today. At the same time, the contacts themselves were much more personal and immediate than just mailing them an application and a form letter. As a manager, I consider that to be working smarter and better, both for us and for our customers.
Unregistered Carriers on 5/22/2009 - 4080
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 23 / $2165 (avg $94)
OK, it's official now - this spreadsheet comparison tool is GREAT!
The software, working in conjunction with Iteris' Unregistered List reports, gives us instant information on every carrier who has been added to our list since the previous day (including email addresses). Keep in mind that we are not just seeing brand-new USDOT carriers. We are now seeing every carrier that was added to our list for any reason (inspection, crash, MCS-150 update, and so on).
Today, for example, we added 14 carriers to our Unregistered List. Eight of these carriers are brand-new USDOT numbers. The other six are what I referred to in previous posts as "sideways" additions - carriers who came in stealthily because of one of the reasons listed above.
Seven of these 14 carriers have email addresses, so we emailed them the "Our records show that your are not registered under the UCR program ..." email. We called the other seven carriers. Our call results: 4 voice mails left, one "no" answer, one disconnected phone, and one guy who walked in and registered after we ran our list but before we called him. Shame on us for not thinking of that scenario! Total elapsed call time: 10 minutes.
The upshot: we expended very little physical effort and very little cost to contact ALL of our new additions today. At the same time, the contacts themselves were much more personal and immediate than just mailing them an application and a form letter. As a manager, I consider that to be working smarter and better, both for us and for our customers.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Calling all Unregistered UCR Carriers
Unregistered Carriers on 5/19/2009 - 4126
Unregistered Carriers on 5/20/2009 - 4102
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 30 / $6240 (avg $208)
In my previous post, I hinted that it may, in fact, make financial sense for a State to go after 'every last one' of their Unregistered carriers. In this post, I'd like to put some numbers behind that assertion to see if it holds water.
Suppose, for example, that we randomly called 10 unregistered $39 UCR carriers. Suppose further that we spent 10 minutes talking to the carriers we were able to reach and 2 minutes discovering that we had to leave a voice mail for the others. Finally, suppose, for the sake of this discussion, that we accepted fax and credit card as viable means of registration.
Let's assume that we talked to five of them and left voice mail for the other five. Those results would take us exactly one hour. What are our costs for that hour? If the caller costs us $.50 per minute (high-priced calling talent!) and the calls cost us $.10 per minute, we would have a total cost of $.60 per minute, or $36 for that hour. How many registrations (immediate registrations, using a credit card) do we need from our 10 calls to cover our costs and make a couple of bucks? One! Even if it's only $39!
Unregistered Carriers on 5/20/2009 - 4102
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 30 / $6240 (avg $208)
In my previous post, I hinted that it may, in fact, make financial sense for a State to go after 'every last one' of their Unregistered carriers. In this post, I'd like to put some numbers behind that assertion to see if it holds water.
Suppose, for example, that we randomly called 10 unregistered $39 UCR carriers. Suppose further that we spent 10 minutes talking to the carriers we were able to reach and 2 minutes discovering that we had to leave a voice mail for the others. Finally, suppose, for the sake of this discussion, that we accepted fax and credit card as viable means of registration.
Let's assume that we talked to five of them and left voice mail for the other five. Those results would take us exactly one hour. What are our costs for that hour? If the caller costs us $.50 per minute (high-priced calling talent!) and the calls cost us $.10 per minute, we would have a total cost of $.60 per minute, or $36 for that hour. How many registrations (immediate registrations, using a credit card) do we need from our 10 calls to cover our costs and make a couple of bucks? One! Even if it's only $39!
Average UCR Transaction Amount In May - $100+
Unregistered Carriers on 5/19/2009 - 4126
Unregistered Carriers on 5/20/2009 - 4126
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 29 / $2016 (avg $69)
I have been under the assumption that most of the people coming in to register at this late date in the year are registering at $39 --- so, of course, I ran a report. I was more or less correct, but the numbers still surprised me.
May-to-date totals: 435 registrations for $44,000. Of these registrations, there are none (zero)for $37,500, only 2 for $3840 and only 6 are for $806. The rest, of course, are at or below $231. Nevertheless, we are generating an average of over $100 per registration.
This, in turn, leads me to wonder about the widely-held notion that "it's just not worth it to go after every carrier in the state". At $100+ per registration, I'm thinking it's worth a more in-depth look!
I'll keep you posted!
Unregistered Carriers on 5/20/2009 - 4126
Yesterday's Registrations (IL system) - 29 / $2016 (avg $69)
I have been under the assumption that most of the people coming in to register at this late date in the year are registering at $39 --- so, of course, I ran a report. I was more or less correct, but the numbers still surprised me.
May-to-date totals: 435 registrations for $44,000. Of these registrations, there are none (zero)for $37,500, only 2 for $3840 and only 6 are for $806. The rest, of course, are at or below $231. Nevertheless, we are generating an average of over $100 per registration.
This, in turn, leads me to wonder about the widely-held notion that "it's just not worth it to go after every carrier in the state". At $100+ per registration, I'm thinking it's worth a more in-depth look!
I'll keep you posted!
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