Omnitracs' Road Ahead blog

What are truck drivers looking for in a workflow process?

Gary Blohm
Gary Blohm
Vice President at Omnitracs

On average, an over-the-road truck driver travels nearly 110,000 miles per year – nearly 8 times as much as the average American driver, according to the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.  

With copious miles driven, life on the open road comes with unexpected and unplanned stops, equipment issues, severe weather changes, sudden road closings, medical emergencies, and minor to major fender benders. Keeping what truck drivers go through on a day-to-day basis in mind by providing them with a unique workflow that works for them and your business can be imperative to your overall success.

Move away from manual processes

When a driver encounters a hazardous event on the road, like a roadside accident, they need to create a fully-documented report to send to back-office managers almost immediately. This is an especially time-consuming requirement that can greatly cut into operational costs.

The question is: How do drivers effectively and efficiently record unplanned stops and events in order to notify driver managers? Many operators have relied on manual processes, but filling out, filing, and faxing paperwork, not to mention making calls and waiting on seemingly never-ending holds, can take considerable time and slash into your bottom line.

Most legacy in-cab technologies and systems were not designed to deal with the unexpected events that fall outside of planned stops and activities.  You can provide drivers with accessible, clearly captured records that help them process issues and events in the quickest time frame possible.

Better business means better planning

Roadside incidents can be inconvenient to downright traumatic experiences for drivers. Regardless of how severe the incident is, aiming to keep collected, maintain professionalism, and safely and efficiently handle the required processes following can be quite a challenging endeavor. 

Moving away from manual processes is critical so that, regardless of the issue or event, a driver can quickly and efficiently capture all of the necessary information right on their tablet. Doing so allows drivers to address unplanned challenges with better ease and efficiency so they can get back to doing what they do best — serving your customer’s transport needs.

What over-the-road drivers encounter on the road doesn’t just stop at roadside incidents. Equipping drivers to quickly and easily handle other unplanned tasks or disruptions to their everyday routine allows them to electronically capture critical data that you can utilize to improve your overall operation. Capturing and recording unplanned stops and activities allows you to incorporate them back into a driver’s active route and planned stops in near-real time.

Learn more about how Omnitracs Drive can put ease and efficiency back into your driver workflow approach.