Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/466315
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | FEBRUARY 2015 41 technology for immediate billing. For customers who use paper bills of lading, CrossCoun- try scans the documents and superimposes the signatures captured by its mobile app. CLI's Facts system inte- grates with various third-party mobile apps to eliminate the need for drivers to carry paper manifests. The mobile apps from companies such as Apacheta and Acordex store elec- tronic copies; if a customer wants a physical copy, the driver can send an e-mail at the point of delivery, or the system can be configured to send a copy automatically before the driver arrives. Double D Express, an LTL carrier based in Peru, Ill., uses the Facts system with the Acordex mobile app to get shipping information to drivers quickly, says Tim Robey, operations manager. Incoming pickup orders are routed to drivers automati- cally by location and displayed on their Samsung Galaxy Tab 2; deliveries on a route also are displayed. Drivers can touch the PRO number assigned to the order to see an im- age of the original BOL to resolve discrepancies in shipment quantities with the customer, Robey says. LTL carriers may not know shipment details until the driver arrives to make a pickup. Using mobile apps, drivers can use smartphones and tablets to capture and transmit an image of the paper manifest and any signed documents to the office for immediate data entry, says Marc Mitchell, vice president of LTL technology for McLeod Software, which offers TMS software for truckload and LTL companies. For delivery receipts, LTL carriers typically will print either a copy of the original BOL or an equivalent document for their drivers to take with them, as electronic signature capture still is not prevalent. Once paper documents are signed, mobile apps can be used to capture and transmit images to the office for im- mediate billing, Mitchell says. While technology makes it pos- sible to eliminate the use of paper shipping documents altogether, real-world exceptions remain. At a minimum, it can help ease many bottlenecks and inefficiencies caused by hard copies. Smart tires cross-trained for durability and verified fuel savings Double Coin built the EPA SmartWay ® Verified, ultra premium OptiGreen ™ Series for people driven to ride on more than a strong and durable tire. Join the growing number of people making the Smart Money choice. FT125 ©2015 CMA, LLC. Fuel Efficient Tire Line www.doublecointires.com SMART TIRES BUILT TO OVERCOME RESISTANCE Acordex's mobile proof-of- delivery app in- tegrates with fleet dispatch systems. Apacheta's TransportAce mobile proof-of-delivery app is integrated with CLI's Facts freight manage- ment system.