It was only a matter of time before the paper-filled ways of the 20th century were abandoned in the 21st. Rather than slow erosion of the need for physical documents, pens, fax machines, scanners, and other items, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the movement to a contactless freight workflow, making essential workers like truck drivers safer.<\/span><\/p>\n For the past few years, leaders at J.B. Hunt<\/a> have wondered why one of the largest for-hire carriers in North America was still relying on paperwork, inked signatures, and passing paper from hand-to-hand as its drivers picked up and delivered freight across the country.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe always knew that technology could solve for that, but it really wasn\u2019t until this pandemic that we created the answer to that very quickly,\u201d Shelley Simpson, J.B. Hunt\u2019s chief commercial officer and executive vice president of highway operations, said during an FTR Engage<\/a> virtual speaking series event in September. \u201cWe created our electronic bill of lading, a contactless way for both our driving community and carriers that interact with us and at our customers\u2019 locations, their employees could actually transact without ever coming in contact, creating more safety for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Over the summer, J.B. Hunt introduced an electronic bill of lading, which it calls e-BOL, to its Carrier 360 digital platform, which helps fleets find and manage loads. The e-BOL has cut down on physical contact during deliveries by allowing fleets to upload documents and receivers to sign for the deliveries electronically. <\/span><\/p>\n Before the pandemic, Simpson said it would have taken a while to slowly adapt to a paperless freight world as all parties involved would have been given time to ease into this new way of business. \u201cInstead, through COVID, we really disrupted the old way, figured out how to change that process and people adapted very quickly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n J.B. Hunt has folded social distancing into the carrier\u2019s safety culture. \u201cWith safety being a key component in our culture, it has been a smooth transition for our delivery teams to adopt new practices,\u201d according to John Vargo, senior vice president of final-mile services operations. \u201cIt is our goal to provide an environment that is as safe as possible for consumers and our delivery teams.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Truck drivers are among the most COVID-susceptible workers in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which notes that drivers can be exposed to the virus in numerous ways while working. From being in close contact with others at truck stops, in stores, and at loading docks, drivers can be exposed to the virus, which spreads from person-to-person through respiratory droplets. Those droplets can be spread through the air or by touching a surface or object \u2014 such as papers and pens \u2014 that has the virus on it and then touching one\u2019s face, mouth, nose, or eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n Drivers who find ways to limit in-person interactions to complete their job can be safer, according to Microdea, which developed a document management app called Origin that allows entirely paperless delivery with electronic proof-of-delivery (ePOD). <\/span><\/p>\n An ePOD system allows drivers to stay in their cabs by receiving and submitting all necessary paperwork using a smartphone, to encourage isolation on the road. This protects dock workers and receivers. The Origin app also means drivers need to make fewer stops, such as pulling over at truck stops to use a scanner. This can give drivers more time to drive, a bonus when driving hours are at a premium due to hours of service requirements. The ePOD system also helps fleets\u2019 offices be more productive as the app instantly sends paperwork to the carrier\u2019s office, so there is no waiting for drivers to turn in paperwork physically. <\/span><\/p>\n Microdea\u2019s<\/a> development of an ePOD solution was born out of the pandemic. \u201cWhen COVID hit, we started working on a process to keep the interaction between drivers and receivers and drivers and shippers down,\u201d Zehra Hussain, a Microdea product manager, said during a Truckload Carriers Association webinar on contactless delivery.<\/span><\/p>\n While COVID propelled the company to develop Origin, physical paperwork has been an ongoing problem for Microdea\u2019s fleet customers \u2014 particularly getting those documents from drivers to the back office, Hussain said. The company compiled the five most common problems with paper documents:<\/span><\/p>\n \u25cf \u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Lost documents<\/span><\/p>\n \u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Billing delays<\/span><\/p>\n \u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Data entry for drivers and staff<\/span><\/p>\n \u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Unnecessary stops for drivers<\/span><\/p>\n \u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Expensive and hard-to-maintain hardware, such as in-cab scanners<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn order to solve these problems, Microdea \u2014 and other organizations \u2014 realized that mobile scanning solutions are the option that will work the best,\u201d Hussain said. \u201cThe main emphasis for this (development) was to get the documents back to the office in real-time as soon as possible \u2014 as soon as the drop off is done. We wanted to eliminate indexing and to bill the customers as soon as possible. So that was the goal. And we were able to achieve that with the Origin mobile app.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n With Origin, Hussain said that fleets benefit by not losing documents, requiring less data entry by drivers and other staff, better image quality of documents than traditional scanners or faxes, no hardware requirements (other than smartphones), and fewer stops for drivers.<\/span><\/p>\n Less data entry was a big goal, according to Steel Roddick, a writer and market researcher for Microdea. With the mobile capture app, everything is automatically tied to a load. \u201cThis is a big efficiency gain, making it easier for drivers to minimize the amount of data entry they have to do,\u201d he said. \u201cThat just makes everything so much easier on the back end for office staff, so they don\u2019t have to do any sorting \u2014 documents just flow directing into your TMS and are already tied to a specific load. So, you really do minimize all those errors and time-consuming, mind-numbing work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Roddick added that making all documents digital allows fleet employees who work remotely access to this information anywhere, so they don\u2019t need to be crowded in an office with their coworkers during the COVID era. <\/span><\/p>\n These are benefits that will outlive the pandemic, Hussain noted<\/span>. \u201cDuring extraordinary times, like the one we\u2019re in right now during COVID, there\u2019s the benefit of less interaction between the people who are at the dock and the drivers themselves,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, social distancing is maintained.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Drivers and shippers aren\u2019t the only people looking to limit in-person interactions during the pandemic. Consumers are also looking for ways to be socially distant without being limited in what they can buy. PICKUP<\/a>, a Texas-based last-mile delivery service and logistics platform, has been scaling up its local delivery capabilities to meet what it called a \u201csurging demand for store-to-door delivery.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn light of a 108% surge in e-commerce, accelerated by COVID-19 and social distancing, PICKUP quickly responded to the increasing consumer demand for contactless, last-mile delivery from store, curb or distribution center in 51 markets across the country,\u201d CEO Brenda Stoner said. <\/span><\/p>\n Over the spring, when many of PICKUP\u2019s retail partners closed their doors as local governments imposed economic shutdowns in a failed attempt to control COVID\u2019s spread, the company saw the need for e-commerce fulfillment skyrocket. Before COVID, PICKUP was focused on delivering big and bulky retail goods, but it made a COVID pivot to support its retail customers by providing an e-commerce solution for smaller goods and groceries. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have heard from many existing and new partners that there is a significant need for reliable same-day service on bags and smaller items,\u201d Stoner said. \u201cIn response to the current environment, we accelerated the development and release of this consumer-friendly lower rate via our website and directly with select retail partners.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The company developed PICKUP Enterprise, which it describes as a technology solution that supports buy online delivery from stores (BODFS), supported by its omnichannel, delivery-as-a-service (DaaS) platform. Enterprise offers customers a signature-free, contactless, same-day delivery service, which allowed its retailer-partners to scale from in-store purchases to an e-commerce model quickly. <\/span><\/p>\n Since launching PICKUP Enterprise in April, the company\u2019s retailer customers have seen online purchases nearly doubled and 23% more sales over the buy-online-pickup-in-store model as of October. The company recently partnered with Postmates, an online platform that offers customers on-demand delivery from more than 600,000 restaurants and retailers nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPICKUP Enterprise with Postmates empowers consumers to shop where, when and how they choose \u2014 e-commerce, store, warehouse, and more \u2014 while reducing logistics costs and increasing customer lifetime value for retailers,\u201d Darren Waxman, PICKUP chief revenue officer, said. <\/span><\/p>\n Companies such as PICKUP have been able to grow during the pandemic-induced recession. And it is not alone, according to J.B. Hunt\u2019s Simpson, who noted that the giant e-commerce retailers have got even bigger in 2020. \u201cI think the same thing happened for carriers,\u201d she said. \u201cCarriers that digitally were already set up, were set up to win.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ryder Systems created a touchless check-in process for drivers to eliminate in-person contact when arriving for vehicle service. The supply chain, transportation and commercial fleet management solutions company implemented the new process at close to 800 maintenance locations across North America in the fall.<\/p>\n Powered by RyderGyde, Ryder\u2019s digital fleet management app, drivers are now alerted to check-in for maintenance via geo-location technology.<\/p>\n \u201cOur main priority, especially in today\u2019s environment, is to continually innovate to keep our customers and employees safe,\u201d Aimee Schmalzle, group director of product platforms and technology for Ryder, said. \u201cWe\u2019re making widespread adoption of our touchless check-in easy and accessible for all drivers. Not only will RyderGyde\u2019s new touchless feature ensure social distancing practices, but it should also improve efficiency across our fleet management operations.\u201d<\/p>\n RyderGyde offers fleet management customers a secure, 24\/7 check-in process at maintenance shops across the county. When drivers arrive at a Ryder location, they can use their smartphone cameras to scan a QR code to check-in their vehicle. Drivers will be prompted on their phones to answer a few questions before depositing their keys in a secure drop box, thus significantly reducing any chance of direct human interaction for drivers, technicians and other staff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n By Josh Fisher<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Source: https:\/\/www.fleetowner.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n The need to keep essential workers like truck drivers safe during the pandemic has accelerated trucking\u2019s inevitable move to a paperless world. It was only a matter of time before the paper-filled ways of the 20th century were abandoned in the 21st. Rather than slow erosion of the need for physical documents, pens, fax machines,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9472"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9475,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9472\/revisions\/9475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Essential drivers in a COVID world<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Contactless](\"https:\/\/base.imgix.net\/files\/base\/ebm\/fleetowner\/image\/2021\/01\/Contactless_Ryder2018_Day1_Driver_057_lr.60084fcb3939b.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=1440\")
hoto: Ryder<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\nThe problem with paper<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Pickup](\"https:\/\/base.imgix.net\/files\/base\/ebm\/fleetowner\/image\/2021\/01\/pickup_image.60084fc881d62.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=1440\")
<\/span><\/p>\nLast-mile<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Contactless maintenance is another way to keep staff safe<\/b><\/h5>\n
CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/04\/nueva-ley-auditoria.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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