Question 1

What key characteristics must information display?

Accepted Answer

Accuracy Transportation information must depict reality. A true picture of freight status and location that is free of errors facilitates logical decision making. In contrast, decisions based on inaccurate information can lead to delivery delays, inventory shortages, and unhappy customers. Accessibility Accurate transportation information must be available to supply chain professionals who have a legitimate need for it, regardless of their role, location, or employer. Gaining accessibility to needed information can be difficult because transportation data often are dispersed among multiple companies, locations, and information systems. Technical barriers must be overcome to ensure systems connectivity and good information flows. 
Relevancy Transportation professionals must have access to pertinent information for analysis and decision making. Irrelevant data and unnecessary details must be avoided as they hide important details, waste time, and distract decision makers. 
Timeliness To be relevant, transportation information must be up-to-date and available in a reasonable time frame. Timely data flows from a highly synchronized information system will allow you to monitor network conditions and respond quickly with corrective actions to avoid additional problems. Transferability Information also needs to be transferred quickly between locations and systems in the transportation network to facilitate accessibility and timeliness. Hence, information must reside in electronic formats that can be readily transmitted and converted. Usability Information is useful only if it can drive effective decision making. Up-front efforts must be made to define information requirements and capture appropriate data. This will avoid the time and costs of capturing extraneous data that will not be used by transportation decision makers. Also, information is only usable if it can be seamlessly shared and translated from one format to another with no discernible loss of data. Reliability The information contained in transportation reports and transaction data sets must come from trustworthy internal and external sources. The data must be accurate, unaltered, and reasonably complete to support the intended uses. When incomplete or estimated data is provided, a clear explanation of the missing values and assumptions is needed so that a decision maker's analysis can be adjusted accordingly. Value Achieving these seven quality standards is neither an easy nor a cost-free proposition. The hardware and software needed to capture and disseminate transportation data can be expensive, though costs are coming down thanks to innovations like cloud computing. Transportation professionals must target information technology investments that enhance knowledge and generate tangible benefits.

Question 2

Transportation management systems provide what type of benefits?

Accepted Answer

A widely cited and highly desirable advantage offered by a TMS is cost savings that increase return on investment. Various studies indicate that use of a TMS helps an organization reduce freight costs by 6 percent to 10 percent. Users have attributed the savings to more effective mode selection, better routing, and better procurement negotiations. By providing transportation professionals with desktop and mobile access to carrier rates and service information, a TMS also provides the ability to make better, faster carrier selection decisions that optimize costs, flows, and delivery. With this access, the freight buyer can quickly choose the best available option. Another important reason to use TMS is the dramatic increase in end-to-end transportation network visibility. The TMS organizes relevant information into precise and easy-to- read lists, which equips the transportation professional to make impactful business decisions during critical moments that improve customers' experiences. Increased paperwork accuracy results from automated documentation processes. Key documents are produced using the TMS database of international, regulatory, and multilingual documentation and creating electronic and non-electronic customs filing. This capability helps the transportation professional avoid delays due to missing or incorrect documentation. Other notable TMS benefits include improved customer delivery performance, greater compliance with regulatory requirements, and stronger data security. Effective TMS suites also integrate effectively with WMS and order management systems to seamlessly share information and support end-to-end fulfillment processes.

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT an information quality standard?

Accepted Answer

A)   accuracy
B)   regulation
C)   accessibility
D)   timeliness B

Question 4

Much of the future investment in transportation management systems (TMS) is expected to go to:

Accepted Answer

A)   Paying down debt
B)   Upgrades of current TMS technology
C)   Autonomous trucks
D)   Supply chain improvements

Question 5

Electronic logging devices (ELD) have been mandated in the United States to:

Accepted Answer

A)   Close the loop on most supply chains
B)   Make US carriers compliant with UN regulations
C)   Improve safety and more accurately log driver hours
D)   Reduce cost

Question 6

Which of the following is a trucking equipment innovation that can improve fuel efficiency?

Accepted Answer

A)   Trailer skirts
B)   Trailer tails
C)   Gap reducers
D)   All of these are correct.

Question 7

Blockchain has the ability to:

Accepted Answer

A)   Reduce documentation in the supply chain
B)   Reduce cost in the supply chain
C)   Increase processing times within transportation
D)   All of these are correct.

Question 8

From the planning perspective, what support activities does a TMS include?

Accepted Answer

A)   Routing
B)   Scheduling
C)   Carrier selection
D)   All of these are correct.

Question 9

What does truck platooning refer to?

Accepted Answer

A)   Creating time utility that leads to shorter lead times
B)   Creating place utility to more efficiently move through the supply chain
C)   Groups of vehicles that communicate via a wireless connection that assists with vehicle movements
D)   Linking carrier production and consumption

Question 10

Supply chains rely on three flows: _______, ___________, and _________.

Accepted Answer

A)   regulation; land bridges; demand
B)   product; money; information
C)   sight; costs; electronic
D)   agency; principal; contingent

Question 11

In what ways are carriers addressing cargo security?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In what ways are carriers addressing cargo...

Question 12

Efforts are underway to take many of the routine operator tasks in transportation and ___________.

Accepted Answer

A)   turn them over to computers
B)   have them deregulated
C)   delegate them to the states funded with block grants
D)   turn them over to the Department of Homeland Security

Question 13

The ocean shipping industry has begun to use what type of fuel to improve emissions?

Accepted Answer

A)   Methane
B)   LNG
C)   Gasoline
D)   Kerosene

Question 14

Best of breed solutions refer to:

Accepted Answer

A)   Facilitation of trade movement
B)   Software applications from leading providers
C)   Private industry versus public industry transportation movements
D)   Long term entitlements

Question 15

Many believe that next generation transportation management systems will:

Accepted Answer

A)   Harness the power of business analytics tools
B)   Cause the layoff of many truck drivers
C)   Create massive amounts of unhelpful data
D)   Improve transportation times marginally

Question 16

Other than software, what other areas are transportation companies interested in?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Other than software, what other areas are...

Question 17

Transportation management systems (TMS) provide greater _______ and optimize the _________.

Accepted Answer

A)   costing; value chain
B)   regulations; demand chain
C)   visibility; supply chain
D)   profits; internet of things

Question 18

Which of the following is a reason the transportation industry needs to think about sustainable operations?

Accepted Answer

A)   The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
B)   The highway trust fund
C)   Cost savings
D)   The amount of fuel used per year

Question 19

Typical TMS execution functionality includes:

Accepted Answer

A)   Load planning
B)   Appointments
C)   Regulations
D)   None of these is correct.

Question 20

What three flows do supply chains rely upon?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What three flows do supply chains rely...

Exam 3: Transportation Technology and Systems