Professional truck drivers must be sticklers for detail to stay safe, productive, and compliant. The last thing they should have to worry about is whether they will get paid after completing an on-time delivery.

All the planning and awareness it takes to ensure an incident-free workday can seem futile if paper shipping documents are causing delays in payroll and settlements.

Many carriers have convenient mobile options that drivers use to capture proof-of-delivery (POD) receipts and other trip documents to improve efficiency and accelerate cash flow.

Rather than limit their use of mobile applications to essential document capture tasks, fleets can also give drivers a full circle of tools for trip planning, digital workflow and visibility of safety, compliance, and performance metrics.

Digitizing workflow 

Nearly all drivers are using mobile apps for job-related functions. In many cases, the apps drivers use functions separately with individual accounts and logins.

According to the 2020 Truckers News & Overdrive Connectivity Report, a high percentage of company drivers and owner-operators regularly use apps for these purposes: weather (74), truck stops (52), routing (43), truck parking (39), work related (38), and my fleet’s app (19).

The percentage of drivers that use apps for work increase significantly for those under 34 years old.

Some apps that drivers use for free are enterprise mobile platforms that keep them connected with their fleets. Drivers benefit from using these apps to capture and transmit high-quality images of shipping documents within 24 hours of delivery.

When using mobile scanning apps, drivers not only get documents to the office in an expedited manner but gain confidence they will be paid on time. To further expedite workflow, some apps can index images before they arrive at the office by prompting drivers to identify each type of document — bill of lading, expense receipt, etc. — when scanning.

The Transflo Mobile app and truck stop scanning network, for instance, is one of the largest enterprise mobile platforms that drivers use to electronically submit documents. More than two million drivers regularly use the technology.

Expanding mobility 

Mobile document scanning is one of many conveniences that fleets can provide to drivers. Some mobile apps have an expanded set of functions such as truck navigation, fuel prices, load permits, weigh station bypass technology and digital workflow tools that make the workday easier.

Trailer tracking information is one of many possibilities for digitizing the workflow of drivers. Some fleets include a mapping function in their mobile driver app that helps drivers quickly locate assigned trailers at company or customer facilities.

One of the features that distinguish enterprise-grade mobile apps is their ability for fleets to customize them to address unique business and driver needs. Fleets can add a custom digital form or create a new workflow to make drivers more efficient. They could also add a feature that shares visibility with drivers of their upcoming pay and other office information.

Telematics data is another feature available from enterprise-grade mobile apps. Drivers can be given automatic feedback on their driving behaviors, good or bad, and have visibility of their hours-of-service data as well as report equipment defects that they find in pre- and post-trip inspections.

Apps that provide an all-in-one “center stage” experience for drivers can improve the work experience and loyalty with their carriers. Just as important, an enterprise mobile app can be scaled out quickly by fleets to get new drivers running in a matter of minutes to enjoy the benefits of being connected to all the tools they need to do their jobs.

An upcoming free webinar by Transflo will feature a discussion with a panel of drivers to help facilitate research on what technology drivers want from their carriers to make their lives easier and unleash higher levels of safety, performance, and loyalty.

Tune into this must-see webinar on Thursday, August 5 at 2 p m ET. Registration is at this link.