Drivers hate it, all the paperwork they have to carry in their truck every day. Driver's license, insurance papers, registration certificate,... Yes, a driver must have this with him of course, but that whole mountain of paperwork with access instructions, ADR guidelines, safety warnings and Corona rules, an experienced driver does not need all of that! He has been coming to the same loading and unloading locations for years and knows all the rules and points of attention by heart - he doesn't need all these forms for that.
However, drivers are obligated to carry all these documents with them on a trip, no matter how experienced they are. In addition to information about the load and the 'proof of delivery' documents, these are often documents that a driver does not use much in practice but is formally required to carry at all times. This may be due to legal obligations, because the customer demands it or because the ISO 9001 quality guidelines stipulate it, for example.
Emailing and texting
And if it only stayed with that one folder of paperwork, but no: many documents are now also available as PDF files or in some cases even as video instructions. Drivers also receive emails and Whatsapp messages with the latest instructions on their trips. That does not make things any clearer for a driver.
Stress at the office
All those transport documents are also a source of stress for your people at the office. After all, they have to make sure that every driver has the right forms with them for every trip and that they are ready and waiting for him or her in the morning. It is sometimes quite a challenge to keep track of which documents are needed for each trip and to have the right version of each document available. And your planners should have better things to do than having to email and text drivers all day long. In short, managing documents costs your back office a lot of time and negative energy.
Paperless transport
Fortunately, there is now an instrument available that will put an end to this energy-guzzling bureaucracy. With the Document Management module in Trimble's planners tool FleetCockpit, transport companies can easily get a grip on their documents and transport processes can be made paperless. All documents are digitised and automatically linked to the correct transport orders and driver tasks via your TMS. When a task is released, it automatically includes the right documents and you automatically comply with all rules, requirements and wishes. The module also allows planners to manually link documents to a task or send them to a driver via a message. The latter can also be sent to several trucks at the same time. Via the question path on the Trimble on-board computer, files are offered to the driver at the right moment so that he will use them more often in practice.
Driver in control
Imagine how happy you would make your drivers with this. They no longer have to worry about their mountain of paperwork and they always have the right information at their fingertips, anytime or anywhere. What is also handy: they can search and manage specific documents on their tablet or app, just like they can arrange their vacation days and view their pay slips with another Trimble solution, the Absence Planner. They will have a grip and control over their own work process, something that truck drivers, as you know, are very fond of.
Higher profit margin
By introducing a digital document management system, you will not only reduce stress on the work floor, it will also benefit your profit margin. Your business will become more efficient and you can provide more added value to your customer at a lower cost. In addition, you no longer have to worry about possible fines; in the event of any checks or quality audits, your drivers will always have the correct mandatory documents on hand.
Think about the environment
And let's not forget the environment. After all, all those paper documents are made from trees that are so good for our well-being and the air quality on this earth. Paperless transport… if you don't do it for your drivers, for your office staff or for your profit margin… then at least do it for your CO2 footprint.
