CCJ

September 2015

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2015 41 T ransportation companies need a fast and reliable stream of documents and information coming from drivers to support their billing, payroll and settle- ment functions. Without this, cash flow dries up, and driver satisfaction plummets. A number of electronic capture methods can get paperwork and receipts to the office quickly and accurately. The fastest-grow- ing, by far, involve mobile apps. Apps are free and convenient to use for drivers. Fleets cover the cost, generally a small transaction fee for each document scanned or for all documents pertaining to a load. Drivers for Packard Transport, a flatbed carrier with 209 owner-operators, use truck stop scanning and their own devices to transmit images. The Channahon, Ill.-based company provides two choices for apps: Connect Mobile Capture from EBE Tech- nologies and Transflo Mobile+ from Pegasus TransTech. The apps make it easy for Packard drivers to send trip docu- ments to the office im- mediately after delivering loads, says Chris Checca, IT manager. In exchange, the fleet cuts a settlement check the same day. Document capture But the benefits of mobile scanning are short-lived when apps do not ensure image quality at the point of capture. Otherwise, er- rors abound and rework piles up. Some apps have built-in intelligence to prompt drivers to retake an image if necessary prior to submission. Compression techniques also play a role. Frank Adelman, chief executive officer of Pegasus TransTech, says the Transflo Mobile+ app ensures quality while reducing the image sizes from 1 MB to less than 100 kb per document to minimize usage of drivers' data plans. Integration with billing and payroll functions is another benefit. EBE's Connect Mobile Capture app integrates with the fleet's back-office systems and will trigger automatic exception alerts if drivers have missing or incomplete paperwork. This feature, called Settlement Assistant, "eliminates payday surprises," says Larry Kerr, president of EBE. Forward mobility When equipped properly, these apps can be an entry point for a much broader set of tools to keep drivers connected to the enterprise. CalArk, a dry van carrier based in Little Rock, Ark. (CCJ Top 250, No. 164), uses expanded mobile services in the Transflo Mobile+ app that include driver valida- tion, pre-plan notification, load tendering, two-way messaging, driver scorecards and accident and claims submissions. The Transflo Mobile+ app is part of an integration platform that Pegasus TransTech calls Mobile Software as a Service (MSaaS). CalArk uses the integration with its back-office systems to commu- nicate electronically with drivers inside and outside the cab. "The ability to offer out-of-cab communication and provide real-time KPIs to drivers, in conjunction with the already utilized mobile scanning application, got us excited about the endless possibilities and flexibility we needed," says Matt Braslavsky, vice president of information technology for CalArk. Because drivers see, touch and interact daily with company apps, the app itself becomes a useful marketing tool to reinforce the brand. Both EBE and Pegasus TransTech allow fleet custom- ers to display their logos prominently in mobile apps. Fleets also can add custom functions such as hyperlinks that allow drivers to access their secure websites. Using mobile apps to stay connected with drivers inside and outside the cab has become a strategy for fleets to improve their quality of life and get more information from them faster. MAKING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS WORK FOR YOUR FLEET BY AARON HUFF technology AARON HUFF is Senior Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail ahu@ccjmagazine.com or call 385-225-9472. Staying connected Document capture apps expand mobile driver workflow QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY: Mobile apps provide electronic capture methods to get paper- work and receipts to the oce. NOT JUST FOR DRIVERS: Integration with back-oce billing and payroll functions is another benet of mobile apps. CONTINUOUS INHOUSE MARKETING: The app itself can become a useful tool to reinforce the eet's brand. EBE's Connect Mobile Capture app integrates with a eet's back-oce systems and will trigger automatic exception alerts if drivers have miss- ing or incomplete paperwork.

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