{"id":1892,"date":"2021-02-02T21:46:59","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T21:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2021-02-02T21:47:01","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T21:47:01","slug":"variant-verified-valiant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/other-news\/2021\/02\/02\/variant-verified-valiant\/1892\/","title":{"rendered":"Variant Verified Valiant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At a time when drivers are worrying about technology invading job security<\/a>, one carrier uses artificial intelligence to its advantage. Variant<\/a> changed the OTR<\/a> game with a golden ratio of tech to team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Using artificial intelligence and algorithms to plan and schedule loads increases profitability in more ways than one. What were fleet managers are now operations specialists, only handling exceptions to the algorithm\u2019s program. The software optimizes for asset utilization and maximizing loaded miles per week. This generates more revenue per tractor, ultimately allowing drivers to bring home more money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variant’s parent company, U.S. Xpress<\/a>, had driver turnover rates exceeding 100%. This Variant fleet cut that turnover by 70%, putting the proof in the pudding that drivers are happy with this model.

But not just any driver can be a Variant driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for a certain type of driver who\u2019s fairly experienced in the industry,\u201d U.S. Xpress President and Chief Executive Officer Eric Fuller told FreightWaves. \u201cThey have really good safety stats and are willing to operate in this highly digitized model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have fleet managers, and some of the hand-holding that goes into the legacy model doesn\u2019t exist. Variant drivers are highly motivated, driven self-starters, who can utilize the system to get the full benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing it differently<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most carriers supply drivers with a mobile app that has a number of features available. This can give the impression the driver is in control even when a fleet manager pulls all the strings. Variant does it differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cameron Ramsdell, President of Variant<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHence the name \u2013 Variant, derived from the Latin word variantem, \u2018to change,'” wrote Cameron Ramsdell, the president of Variant. “Our approach is a complete departure from the norm.”

Ramsdell came to U.S. Xpress in 2019 from Coyote Logistics, where he was chief technology officer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarriers treat these essential professionals like an expendable resource,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe paychecks are inconsistent, support is minimal, there\u2019s zero loyalty, home time policies are a joke, and common decency and respect are often completely missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur driver turnover is one fifth of the industry average because when drivers give us a chance, they feel the difference and see the impact to their lifestyle and wallets. And we\u2019re just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a time when drivers are worrying about technology invading job security, one carrier uses artificial intelligence to its advantage. Variant changed the OTR game with a golden ratio of tech to team. Using artificial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[267,86,374],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1923,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions\/1923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiremaster.com\/trucking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}