Omnitracs' Road Ahead blog

Webinar wisdom: Help drivers win with the right mobile technology

Gary Blohm
Gary Blohm
Vice President at Omnitracs

Not all mobile technologies are created equal. On August 19, I presented an hour-long webinar with Omnitracs Principal Mitigation Consultant Danny Fagan that highlighted how mobile technology is disrupting the transportation industry.

As our industry was one of the earliest ones to begin adopting mobile technology, prices at the time were exceptionally high. Today, many carriers find themselves in a state of prolonged technology debt as a result of the high investment costs, leaving their technology and solutions outdated in the modern mobile world.

For companies to find success, they need to increase efficiencies associated with driver job tasks and activities needing to be managed while on the road. Improving a driver’s experience and thereby their quality of life will have a significantly positive impact on both driver recruiting and retention.

Understand how outdated processes affect drivers

With the plethora of responsibilities drivers are asked to take on while out on the open road, the last thing drivers want is to be bogged down by administrative and exhaustive processes that rob them of their time on the road.

As I said in my grocery store to driver analogy, many customers who visit the grocery store are overwhelmed by the excess products, aisles, and checklist items. The same can be said for the driver experience. Drivers have various routes, many job tasks, and continued orders to keep track of and this is all encompassed in the nature of their job role. The focus should not be so much on eliminating these responsibilities but reshaping how they are presented to drivers within a modern mobile technology experience.

Many drivers are required to do a great deal in a limited amount of time both in and out of the cab. Manual-based vehicle inspections and manual data entry into various applications, for example, are just two prime examples that point to how driver responsibilities can equate to a great deal of additional work time that is not monetarily beneficial. What’s more, these demanding manual responsibilities can significantly and negatively impact the driver experience, which can result in a compromised customer service experience and declining ROI.

Modern mobile technology will help retain drivers

Companies in today’s world are seeking to invest in the right driver workflow experience, strategy, and solution.

A robust driver workflow experience needs to carefully target and eradicate all of the “wasted-time” examples a driver experiences while out on the open road. A carrier’s unique driver workflow experience and solution will look different than other carriers, as no two carriers’ driver workflow experience are identical. However, there are some uniform features and benefits to look out for. The right solution can consolidate driver job functions into one experience, use contextual-based location awareness, and integrate Hours of Service (HOS) clocks into the driver workflow experience so that a driver does not have to bounce around from one job task applet to another to complete the simplest job task.

Another way a robust driver workflow solution can help and support drivers is through tight integration with a carrier’s Transportation Management System (TMS).  With TMS integration, many forms are pre-populated, so drivers are not filling out more forms and empty fields than they are required to.

Also, drivers will more than likely run into obstacles out on the open road that are truly unplanned. A solution with video monitoring capabilities that allows for a driver to press a button and record an unexpected event as quickly as possible can not only keep a driver safer on the road, but it can also protect your company from unnecessary litigation costs.

Like us, we know you’re committed and passionate about every driver’s quality-of-life, and this starts with a well-thought-out driver workflow experience strategy.

To learn more about how you can quickly build and modify workflows for better trips and happier drivers, take a look at Omnitracs Drive. Also, tune in to the full webinar complete with an extensive demo featuring our solutions and learn all about how you can best utilize mobile solutions for the benefit of your business and drivers alike.