Truck drivers are easily the most visible, and one of the most crucial, parts of the transportation industry. Freight simply wouldn’t move without them. But another part of the transportation workforce quietly helps keep shipments moving behind the scenes and is just as important: back-office staff.
Office workers such as dispatchers, safety assistants and bookkeeping staff serve as critical points of contact for drivers to receive load instructions, ensure compliance with laws and company policies, and, of course, get paid. Office workers also rely on drivers doing their part: delivering loads on time, completing inspections and turning in necessary paperwork in a timely manner.
When staff members are constantly calling drivers about missing documents, asking them to retake photos of illegible paperwork or requesting updates on their load status, it slows down all parties’ ability to do their jobs as well as the company’s cash flow.
These types of workflow disruptions contribute to employee attrition as workers seek environments with more efficient communication processes.
When it comes to resolving communication workflow issues, automation is the most obvious and effective way to go. The transportation industry has been embracing automation over the past several years, and it’s proving invaluable in helping company productivity, reducing costs and boosting employee job satisfaction.
“Traditional mobile communication solutions are connectivity solutions,” EBE Technologies President and CEO Larry Kerr said. “EBE designed our mobile solution to be a content solution providing drivers with information and instructions to make their jobs easier and safer while improving the dispatcher and back-office productivity.”
EBE Technologies allows trucking companies to modernize their processes and grow efficiency using its suite of technology products, including its SHIPSMobile Content solution.
The app is a valuable tool in combating the nationwide issue of driver turnover. After implementing SHIPSMobile Content, companies are seeing improved driver retention and a reduction of the “hire, train and repeat” culture.
Instead of spending time manually entering data, drivers can easily and quickly send photos of their paperwork — like bills of lading and renewals for driver qualification files — which route to the carrier’s TMS and can be processed and sorted into the right workflow. But the mobile solution is more than just a capture app. Its numerous other features also support the reduction of manual entry, follow-up calls and other tedious repetitive processes.
SHIPSMobile Content’s offerings include:
- Late or missing paperwork notifications based on a trip leg.
- Optical character recognition technology with TMS/dispatch integration.
- Indexing the document for import into an imaging system.
- Image quality auditor.
- Confirmation of paperwork received.
- Settlement status when paperwork is received during a cutoff period.
- Special delivery instructions.
- Freight and asset tracking to send status and GPS locations to third parties.
EBE also integrates with four different areas of a carrier’s back-office systems to provide more workflow flexibility. These areas include integration with TMS for load information, TMS for billing, mobile communication providers’ devices and a carrier’s asset maintenance system.
Near-instant communication has become more common in society, and shippers are demanding speedy communication from carriers regarding load and delivery status.
Using SHIPSMobile Content, carriers are able to provide proof of delivery to shippers within 10 minutes of delivery. This proved to be exactly what Iowa-based carrier Solar Transport needed.
Solar Transport chose SHIPSMobile Content as a way to meet shipper expectations by providing immediate proof of delivery. Additionally, it required a better way to index and expedite the settlement process.
With the SHIPSMobile Content solution, the company accelerated its proof-of-delivery transmission process, has saved $100,000 per year after eliminating indexing time, reduced manual entry by 95%, and has cut 30 hours per week off its time spent making or receiving missing or late paperwork by using the Settlement Assistant.
Solar Transport was also able to improve its driver retention by 15% after implementing SHIPS Mobile Content.
A one-size solution doesn’t fit all. EBE Technologies offers individualized solutions, so no matter what needs carriers have, they can streamline their productivity.
To learn more about EBE Technologies and its mobile content offerings, visit its website.