In the logistics world, safety and efficiency are two sides of the same coin. Whether your drivers are at the warehouse, at a rest area or on the road, mobility insights can be instrumental for safer, more streamlined operations and supply chains at every turn.
Truckers are the backbone of the North American economy, but these vital workers often face operational challenges that impact their day-to-day safety and efficiency. The issues they encounter can range from a lack of truck parking to frequent bottlenecks on their routes. Let’s dive into some of the difficulties commercial drivers face and how commercial mobility insights can help optimize staging, streamline traffic flow and boost transportation safety.
The dwell time dilemma: How long are trucks truly waiting?
The time a truck spends at a warehouse for loading and unloading can have a lasting impact on both safety and efficiency. Staging, the process of organizing and loading or unloading commercial vehicles, is a critical step in the transportation lifecycle. Delays during this process can create a ripple effect throughout the entire supply chain.
Common challenges from unoptimized staging and truck parking shortages
- Safety concerns: Inadequate space for staging can cause trucks to overflow into city streets, turn lanes or road shoulders, creating traffic congestion and safety hazards. Similarly, a lack of designated truck parking can force drivers to park in less-than-ideal locations like road shoulders or retail parking lots. Parking in these areas is especially dangerous overnight, when higher numbers of impaired drivers are on the road. In last-resort parking areas with inadequate security, there is also a greater potential for theft or harassment. Furthermore, if drivers are searching for a designated rest area but can’t find one nearby, they risk exceeding their Hours of Service (HOS) driving limits, potentially endangering themselves and others.
- Lost productivity and earning potential: Commercial drivers are paid for their time on the road. If delays occur during staging, both drivers and companies can lose money. Drivers may wait in long lines at warehouses with little direction, resulting in wasted time and lost productivity.
- Driver frustration: Inefficient staging can lead to driver frustration. When drivers feel like their time is being wasted, it can lead to increased turnover, costing logistics companies more money and time to acquire new drivers.
- Dissatisfied customers: Staging inefficiencies can also damage a company’s reputation. Lengthened staging times delay deliveries, which can lead to lost business and a dismal reputation among customers.
Given these complex problems, there is a strong need for optimized staging processes and more overnight commercial parking. Asking critical questions can help you identify where to start:
- Are staging locations or parking shortages impeding the flow of traffic?
- Where are drivers sleeping if they’re parked overnight waiting for cargo?
Whether a truck is parked overnight waiting to receive cargo or a driver is taking their required rest hours, mobility insights can shed light on dwell times and overall movement tendencies.
Decoding truck movement patterns with mobility insights
Before a warehouse facility opens, trucks often try to be first in line for staging to get on the road sooner and make faster progress toward their destinations. Mobility insights can help you understand the entire process, from staging to where commercial vehicles are headed, showing how drayage trucks typically move products. Transportation analytics provide vital insights into how supply chains disperse from central ports or distribution centers and flow throughout a region. Warehousing and logistics companies can use these insights to pinpoint staging and parking inefficiencies and develop effective solutions.
The Altitude advantage: Insights that power better warehousing operations
Mobility insights from Altitude by Geotab provide logistics companies with a targeted approach to solve truck parking and staging deficiencies. The Altitude platform surfaces valuable insights on where trucks are coming from, where they are going and where they are stopping, enabling transportation leaders to pinpoint problem areas and measure the results of new strategies over time.
- Origin & Destination (O&D): Altitude’s O&D module shows the most common routes commercial vehicles take in a region and provides deeper insight into overall truck travel times. You can identify the most common routes taken by trucks and how long it generally takes them to reach their destinations.
- Stop Analytics: The Stop Analytics module helps highlight commercial vehicle parking tendencies, including the most frequented dwelling areas and how long vehicles are at rest. Truck parking insights can also be broken down by vehicle class, industry, vocation and fuel type.
- Regional Domicile Analytics (RDA): Where do trucks reside when a job is complete? RDA answers this critical question and more with comprehensive insights into travel distances, duty cycle stops and domicile stop lengths.
Streamlining logistics safety and efficiency with Altitude’s mobility insights
Having these rich insights from the Altitude platform is one thing, but how can they be used to improve operations for both logistics companies and their drivers? Four key use cases demonstrate how our data can help solve safety and efficiency challenges at all levels.
- Data-driven freight parking planning: Effective truck parking site selection requires a balance between maximizing available space and maintaining easy accessibility for drivers. Studying insights on the most heavily traveled routes by commercial vehicles and where they are currently stopping enables organizations to identify the most needed or most feasible locations for new parking options. Supporting parking construction and planning with data ultimately makes drivers’ lives easier and their daily commutes safer.
- Optimized staging: Altitude helps surface the staging inefficiencies currently facing commercial drivers. By observing traffic bottlenecks and truck backups at warehouses, logistics companies can better diagnose operational issues. Use transportation insights to develop targeted strategies that streamline truck staging, from optimizing times to preventing overcrowding.
- Reduced congestion: Promoting equitable and efficient transportation for all is core to Altitude by Geotab’s mission. By providing transportation agencies and logistics companies with access to contextual transportation data, we help these organizations identify and solve key traffic problems in their regions. As a result, everyone benefits from easier access to smoother roads, with reduced travel times for all motorists.
- Improved safety for all drivers: Reducing congestion and expanding freight parking helps to protect both commercial drivers and regular motorists. Developing insights-driven strategies to eliminate bottlenecks and build smarter truck parking areas can reduce safety risks for all road users.
Safety first, always: Protecting motorists with data-driven planning
Altitude by Geotab provides warehousing and logistics companies with unprecedented visibility into regional supply chains. By analyzing truck movement patterns and dwell times, companies can optimize staging areas, minimize congestion and reduce idle times. This translates to faster turnaround times, increased throughput and a more efficient overall workflow.
Beyond efficiency, Altitude prioritizes driver safety. By identifying areas of high traffic or prolonged wait times with our insights, companies can address potential hazards and improve the overall driver experience. Reducing unnecessary delays and optimizing workflows contributes to a less stressful environment for drivers, enhancing their well-being and job satisfaction. At Altitude by Geotab, we know the unique struggles facing the transportation and logistics industry. We’re dedicated to helping businesses in this sector protect and elevate their drivers with data-driven operational strategies. Our insights-backed approach to safety empowers you to create a secure and supportive work environment for your most valuable assets: your truckers.
Click here to learn more about Altitude by Geotab.
