Your Privacy

This site uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and deliver personalized content. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies.
COOKIE POLICY

Skip to main content
Data & Analytics

Building a Foundation for Turning KPIs Into Powerful Decisions for Western Express

Building a Foundation for Turning KPIs Into Powerful Decisions for Western Express

After a tornado devastated Western Express’s three-building headquarters — and the data they relied on for essential fleet decisions — the company had to act fast. They needed to put disaster recovery plans into action and had to do so against the backdrop of a quickly and severely emerging global pandemic. Facing these disruptions amidst increasing, evolving competition, Western Express recognized the urgency to  improve the robustness around how they capture, manage, and analyze data. Requiring a strong foundation, they turned to UDig to help them build a powerful data engine to enable them on their data journey. 

How We Went from Ideas to Impact

  • The Idea

    Existing environment lacked the ability to easily analyze historical data and was burdensome to maintain. It also didn’t enable agility that was necessary for quickly responding to changing business needs.

  • The Process

    Establish an enterprise data warehouse, quickly deliver key operational business metrics, and handoff a robust foundational structure that Western Express could own.

  • The Impact

    Gain a rich data environment that provides a strong framework for future metrics and allows for quicker business decisions. They also can now empower their in-house team to drive data forward.

  • “They have set up the back end of the KPI dashboard really well! It’s fast and easy to understand, and it helps us build historical data where we previously had none.”

The Idea

Data Rich But Information Poor

For truckload carriers with large fleets, data is central to keeping operations humming. From knowing each truck’s location to tracking efficiency and beyond, data drives a day’s work. Western Express captured vast amounts of data on their fleets, which were rapidly growing. Over the years, a team of highly capable power users were supporting them well by extracting information from their data. However, the loss of their headquarters disrupted this process. Further, the increasingly competitive business environment that the pandemic created was challenging their ability to keep up with information demands.  

The technology team had many pressing obstacles to overcome, such as:  

  • Many manual and time-draining processes that dragged down productivity 
  • Existing reporting tools that burdened production systems 
  • Some key operational metrics that were difficult to monitor 

Since Western Express relied on having near real-time data updates to know crucial details around truck profitability and efficiency, they had no time to waste. They knew they needed a better way to turn their data into information by reducing maintenance burdens and enabling greater agility. Responding to the pandemic’s changing business environment while rebuilding their headquarters and supporting faster, more accurate reporting and analysis was crucial to their future. 

The Process

A Robust, Foundational Data Platform

To start their journey, we analyzed their current data infrastructure to identify what worked and where gaps existed. While Western Express had some direction for an enterprise data warehouse, they now needed help making architectural decisions. The goal was to serve today’s operational information needs  while building a foundation for future growth. To do so, our team began building the data warehouse’s core components. Meanwhile, we worked closely with our client’s data team to ensure that they could deliver key operational reports atop the new warehouse framework.

Our aim was to build from that platform and design:  

  • A data warehouse that creates a foundational structure to support future business decisions 
  • A system to capture historic data and enable faster, more accurate reporting 

Collaboration was central to our delivery model and success. 

The Western Express team included skilled professionals who could do all end-user visual reporting in-house. So, we created a collaborative process: They supported the analytics, and we built the data platform. Together, we were able to build the solution they needed while optimizing everyone’s capabilities. 

Training enabled them to stand on their own. 

Another goal was to ensure that their data team had the capabilities to support, expand, and enhance their new data platform. So, we delivered training sessions that passed on essential knowledge and documentation to educate their team on the platform. Rather than leave Western Express with a bundle of code, this training helped ensure that they gained the knowledge and confidence to support the platform. 

The Impact

A Strong Foundation That Drives Momentum for Tomorrow

In every step, our goal was to leave them better — and positioned for the future. 

Today, Western Express has a reliable foundation that delivers key operational data in near real–time visualizations directly to their business users for analysis. The current platform informs Western Express’ daily operations and empowers them with the ability to grow it as business needs progress and evolve. They’re now able to do time–sensitive tracking of miles by each truck and team, and plan for drivers to get home on schedule. They can also quickly perform analysis on historical data while analyzing crucial operational KPIs to allow for faster, more informed decisions. From the devastation of their headquarters amidst a global pandemic, Western Express has emerged as a competitive, data-driven organization prepared for the future. Now, they can drive business forward, no matter what the road brings their way.

  • How We Did It
    Assessment and RoadmapData EngineeringData ModelingDevelopment Process ModernizationWarehouse Acceleration
  • Tech Stack
    SQL ServerSQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)DB2

Digging In

  • Is Reporting Dead? The Rise of Agentic AI

    Businesses have obsessed over reporting for years. We’ve built dashboards, cranked out endless reports, and convinced ourselves that if we just had better data, we’d make better decisions. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: reporting isn’t action. Most reports don’t drive change—they just tell us what we already know or suspect. Is reporting dead? At NRF […]

  • Artificial Intelligence

    RVA Data Enthusiasts | Accelerated Intelligence: AI Insights with UDig

    Join UDig to explore how AI is accelerating impact for clients. In this session, we will share technical insights and lessons learned across a variety of AI-driven projects. Through a round-robin format, you’ll hear from team leaders and consultants on key innovations, with time for Q&A.

  • State Government

    Application Modernization for State Government: Enhancing Efficiency & Citizen Services

    State governments are increasingly recognizing the need to modernize their legacy applications. With the rapid pace of technological advancements, outdated systems can no longer meet the demands of today’s citizens. Application modernization offers a pathway to more efficient, secure, and user-friendly government services. Why Modernize? Legacy systems often struggle to keep up with the growing […]

  • State Government

    Exploring the Future of AI at the Georgia Emerging Technology Summit: Data & AI 2024

    The Georgia Emerging Technology Summit: Data & AI 2024 was a landmark event for public sector leaders, showcasing the transformative potential of AI and data technologies. This summit brought together key figures and experts to discuss, learn, and network to enhance public service delivery through innovative technology. Keynote Highlights The summit featured insightful keynote sessions […]

  • Data & Analytics

    Legacy Data Modernization: A Comprehensive Guide to Upgrading Your Data Platform

    Though they may have been more than functional in the past, legacy data platforms can become a burden to your organization and prevent it from realizing its full potential. That’s why legacy data modernization can effectively transform your organization’s obsolete data systems into modern platforms that are scalable, efficient, and better equipped to handle today’s […]

  • Strategy & Planning

    7 Trends to Watch in 2025: Leveraging Technology to Achieve Business Objectives

    As we head into 2025, it’s clear that technology isn’t just a part of business strategy — it’s a powerful enabler of success. At UDig, we see it every day: organizations leveraging new tools, technologies and approaches to achieve their goals faster, smarter, and with greater impact. Whether it’s using AI to streamline multiple processes, […]

  • Digital Products

    Energy 2025 – Expansion of Fossil Fuels or Carbon Reduction?

    Now that the election is behind us, we have an opportunity to anticipate the possible effects on the energy industry under this new administration. What strategies will be impacted? What will remain the same? What opportunities can we take advantage of in 2025? This blog is meant to dig into these questions and provide some […]

  • State Government

    Exploring the Future of State Technology: Takeaways from the NASTD 2024 Annual Conference

    Last week, I attended the National Association of State Technology Directors (NASTD) 2024 Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN. This premier event brings together state technology directors, industry experts, and vendors to discuss the latest trends, challenges, and innovations in state technology. The conference fosters the exchange of ideas and best practices essential for addressing shared […]