Fleet Management: Descartes Route Planning Solution Delivers Operational Savings And Productivity Improvements For AmeriGas

AmeriGas, the largest retail propane marketer in the United States, has selected logistics management solutions from Descartes, a global on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS) logistics solutions provider, to manage its national delivery operations. Descartes' selection follows a successful pilot project that demonstrated significant reduction in mileage and drive times for AmeriGas' industrial and commercial cylinder business.

"While AmeriGas is constantly focused on improving customer service and reducing costs, we are also committed to our social responsibility of reducing emissions. During this pilot, Descartes validated that we can cost effectively address both areas," said Eugene V. N. Bissell, CEO of AmeriGas. "Using the Descartes solution we have optimized driver territories and frequency of service as well as minimized the number of miles driven. The result is a reduction in cost and overall improvement in customer service while lessening the impact of our operations on the environment. With a fleet of more than 3,000 vehicles, we have a tremendous opportunity to make a significant difference."

The Descartes solution enables AmeriGas to analyze territories and build efficient routes; improve customer delivery cycles; maximize network efficiencies while minimizing drive time and mileage; and enable what-if analysis and planning.

"Descartes has invested in the development of unique solutions tailored to the gas industry, and has built exceptional domain expertise in addressing the complex and demanding needs of both cylinder and bulk delivery operations," said Arthur Mesher, CEO of Descartes. "Our yield management systems enable our customers to sell and distribute more products and do it with fewer resources. Solutions like ours are playing an instrumental role in helping companies like AmeriGas grow and improve productivity in an environmentally conscious way."

About AmeriGas
Based in Valley Forge, PA, AmeriGas Partners is the nation's largest retail propane marketer, serving nearly 1.3 million customers from over 600 distribution locations in 46 states. UGI Corporation, through subsidiaries, owns 44% of the Partnership and individual unitholders own the remaining 56%.

About Descartes
Descartes, a leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) logistics solutions, is delivering results across the globe today for organizations that operate logistics-intensive businesses. Descartes' logistics management solutions combine a multi-modal network, the Descartes Global Logistics Network, with component-based ‘nano' sized applications to provide messaging services between logistics trading partners, shipment management services to help manage third party carriers and private fleet management services for organizations of all sizes. These solutions and services help Descartes' customers reduce administrative costs, billing cycles, fleet size, contract carrier costs, and mileage driven and improve pick up and delivery reliability. Our hosted, transactional and packaged solutions deliver repeatable, measurable results and fast time-to-value. Descartes customers include an estimated 1,600 ground carriers and more than 90 airlines, 30 ocean carriers, 900 freight forwarders and third-party providers of logistics services, and hundreds of manufacturers, retailers, distributors, private fleet owners and regulatory agencies. The company has almost 300 employees and is based in Waterloo, Ontario, with operations in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Washington DC, Derby, London, Stockholm, Shanghai, Singapore and Melbourne.

For more information, visit www.descartes.com

SOURCE: AmeriGas