In the first of our three-part series, we look at what our industry demands from truck technology and how we can support our customers and their drivers.
Driver engagement and enhanced data from the field
It is widely known that the industry is facing challenges with attracting and retaining drivers. Mike Smith, Managing Director at D.T.S. said: “Alongside good pay and fair practices, technology can play a real part in retaining drivers. The time spent on the day-to-day tasks soon adds up and with the right technology, drivers can spend less time completing the admin and more time making deliveries. Fleet management technology can reduce the need for paperwork, it can automatically schedule deliveries and provide a constant link to the office for support where necessary.”
Mike continued: “Driver engagement in any technology is critical to realising the benefits in efficiency and safety available. At D.T.S. our software gives drivers the choice of the most suitable hardware on a delivery-by-delivery basis, reducing resistance and avoids having to compromise on user preference or health and safety concerns.
“The driver is supported in addressing the challenges he faces in the field through advanced camera options with the ability to highlight key areas of concern and transfer quickly back to the office. This ensures that any resulting customer contact is addressed with the relevant visual and data evidence. Drivers are further supported and provided with a map view of the day’s deliveries enabling him to identify any route improvements.
“Where the in-cab computer is also a phone this reduces the equipment in the cab and further enhancements for the driver in the software enable the call to be initiated from the customer record.”
To see how D.T.S. can support the industry better, our second article in the series focusses on supporting our customers better and can be viewed here. The third article looks at how we can deliver better data and can be viewed here.