Allowing workers to be on duty up to 14 hours daily is excessive in any profession, except trucking, where it is often insufficient. But often rather than driving, drivers exhaust their hours-of-service limits while waiting to be loaded or unloaded at customer sites.
Freightwaves SONAR data shows drivers’ dwell time averages 119 minutes per load. When dwell time turns to detention—beyond two hours—drivers often feel compelled to make up lost time and money. A study shows the average anticipated crash rate rises by 6.2% with every additional 15 minutes of detention.
Detention is not the only factor costing drivers and fleets time and money. Communication challenges, inefficient route planning, and outdated technology also hinder productivity. With the right tools, these latter challenges can be solved for good.
This blog shares five ways fleets are improving driver productivity and job satisfaction with a custom mobile app.
How Your Fleet Can Benefit from a Custom App
According to MIT research, getting 12 more minutes of daily productivity for every professional driver would be enough to overcome the driver deficit. The time-saving features of a custom mobile app can help fleets and drivers improve productivity, communication, and compliance while enhancing job satisfaction.
Below are five ways to leverage custom apps effectively to achieve these goals:
1. Streamline Communications
A custom driver app can facilitate real-time interaction between drivers, dispatchers, and managers. Features like instant messaging, route updates, and incident reporting enable seamless communication, reducing downtime and enhancing productivity.
By implementing a driver app, TMC Transportation untethered drivers from the cab to keep the information flowing. “Before having the mobile app, our drivers were restricted to waiting in the trucks for the load information to come through,” said Travis Johnson, executive vice president for TMC. Today, TMC drivers can review this information from wherever they are, in or out of the cab.
2. Find Trailers, Choose Loads
Drivers can save time using a custom app that helps them find assigned trailers quickly. For example, NAPA Transportation built a “find my trailer” feature into its custom app that gives drivers the location of their assigned trailer with near-pinpoint accuracy. Drivers no longer search drop lots for trailer numbers. Instead, they go straight to the equipment’s location, which NAPA estimates saves up to 30 minutes per load.
Additionally, fleets can use a custom app to give drivers the power to choose their loads. DB Schenker (formerly USA Truck) designed its custom app with a self-dispatch feature. When drivers select a preferred load, the connected system cross-references their service hours against the route to ensure it falls within the limits. If everything checks out, the driver is on their way. Since putting the choice of loads in drivers’ hands, the fleet has seen driver productivity increase by 30%.
3. Optimize Trip Planning
Drivers spend an average of 30 minutes planning each trip. A custom app that optimizes route planning can accelerate this process while saving fuel and improving on-time service. For example, the Eleos custom app platform has a trip planning feature that is proven to cut trip planning time in half (or more). (See how much time your fleet can save with this interactive trip-planning calculator.)
Custom apps that leverage GPS technology and advanced algorithms can also provide drivers with optimized routes for current conditions by incorporating real-time traffic data and historical patterns. Drivers can navigate safely and efficiently to avoid delays.
K&B Transportation delivers real-time weather alerts that take over drivers’ dashboards and force driver acknowledgement before they can access the dashboard’s menu of features. This has resulted in an 80% reduction in DOT reportable accidents because drivers can avoid high-traffic or bad weather routes.
4. Automate Workflows
A custom app platform that integrates with existing back-office systems to eliminate manual paper-based processes can save fleets and drivers significant time and money through workflow automation.
For instance, Ryder Integrated Services developed a custom app with Eleos that consolidates workflows and automates notifications for training, to-do lists, HR updates, and company news, resulting in simplified documentation and improved driver productivity and efficiency.
Ezzell Trucking and Groendyke Trucking developed custom apps with document scanning capabilities, leading to significant benefits. Due to the automation, Ezzell drivers eliminated up to 60 minutes of dwell time per load, while Groendyke drivers reduced the time it took to return paperwork by up to three days. This led to faster payments and improved efficiency. And more importantly, keeps their drivers moving.
5. Centralize Information
To be productive, drivers need seamless access to essential documents and information. Custom apps consolidate various tools and systems into a single platform, providing drivers with everything they need at their fingertips, including load details, equipment information, and compliance documents. Drivers can quickly retrieve crucial data without wasting time navigating disparate systems.
For example, Knight-Swift Transportation’s custom app, built with the Eleos platform, includes a document library that provides the information they need when they need it. It also enables them to remain in the app instead of toggling between different screens or logging in to multiple programs, which increases their productivity by getting them back on the road quicker. Plus, because they can scan and submit all of their paperwork, it also helps drivers get paid faster, which has led to more job satisfaction.
Why Custom Driver Apps are the Right Choice
Custom mobile apps offer a powerful solution for increasing truck driver productivity and earnings. By streamlining communication, improving asset utilization, enhancing route optimization, automating workflows, and centralizing information access, fleets can empower their drivers to achieve peak productivity and performance.
Discover how a custom app platform could save your fleet and drivers time and money.
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