Driver Retention: How Workflow Unification Helps.

Make working for you less stressful and more profitable. Unify your drivers’ workflow with a mobile solution such as Zonar MobileCommand™, and put every tool they need to interact with your TMS on one app with one dashboard and one login. Here’s why…

Your transportation management system (TMS) is the technological heart of your company’s operations. It’s also unlikely to undergo significant changes or be replaced. Too expensive. And too many departments depend on it.

But trucking has grown more complicated, increasingly competitive, and highly regulated. Technological evolution is a must. Because upgrading your TMS is too challenging, your driver tools and smart fleet apps must advance instead.

Reduce driver stress by reducing complexity.

Accumulating a medley of mobile tools from disparate providers doesn’t take long, especially given today’s proliferation of fleet tech start-ups. Nor does it take long to aggravate drivers by regularly adding and replacing their mobile tools.

“Companies take this varied-app approach to give drivers the latest and greatest,” says Wayne Deno, GM Freight and Over the Road at Zonar. “They’re trying to operate more efficiently. But without workflow unification, drivers have to keep switching between apps to perform basic tasks. Even with the best apps, this consumes too much time. And who knows how much training drivers get, or if there’s enough reliable support to back them when they need it.”

Deno’s 25 years in transportation have put him at the forefront of professional carrier operations. He knows it takes more than benefits to retain talent. “If you want higher driver retention rates, reduce their daily stress. Unify onto one driver workflow app to streamline their day, increase their earning potential with more drivetime, and earn their loyalty through a modern, professional experience.”

Being a truck driver is demanding. These professionals have same the need for simplicity and modern tools as any other.

Taking a single-pane-of-glass interface approach to their workflow reduces their daily complexity at a fundamental level. As Deno puts it, “Cut back on steps and stress, give them more time to put to better use, like locking in their next load and making the most of their hours.”

Make every essential tool easily accessible on one mobile dashboard, on their tablet and smartphone—inside and outside the cab.

• Electronically verified inspections: If your fleet uses Zonar’s patented EVIR® to ensure every pre- and post-trip inspection is conducted properly, add them to the unified dashboard for streamlined maintenance workflows.
• Communication: Choose a solution that features multiple methods for driver managers, dispatchers, and others on the back-end to keep drivers informed. Including real-time messaging.
• HoS record integration: Enable drivers to track their hours-of-service using the same interface as their other driver tools.
• Automated trip management: Enable driver managers to share stops and load assignments directly with drivers. And enable drivers to adjust routes based on their available hours, weather, timing, and so on. Everyone stays up to date, and more efficient trips are planned.
• Navigation: Enable drivers to build their own routes, based on their location, destination, and drivetime hour availability to avoid HoS violations. They can map out their best route, and mark points of interest to pre-plan breaks and parking.
• Documents: Unify documents and document submissions onto one app interface to make the process faster, easier, and less vulnerable to human error.
• Dashboard customization: Prioritize which tools drivers see upfront. Load information, messages, HoS clocks, duty status, inspections, to do lists, even notices if their CDL expires soon.
• Payroll information: For each load, show when they’ll be paid, when they were paid, or the next steps needed to get paid. More transparency gives them more control over their earnings.
• OpenCab: Choose a solution that provides the same look, feel, and functionality on tablets and smartphones. Drivers can enter and exit the cab as they want instead of sitting behind the wheel, waiting for assignments and messages.

Support every driver, of every experience level.

Experienced truck drivers have irreplaceable skills and a wealth of knowledge. As they retire, younger drivers, who’ve grown up with technology and expect integration, are recruited to fill the seats. Carriers need to meet the technological needs of both generations.

MobileCommand features an intuitive interface to make every tool easily accessible for every driver. And its customizable views flatten the learning curve, even for those who are less tech-savvy.

Protect drivers with pre-planned parking.

Right now, there are roughly 3.5 million truck drivers in the U.S.—and only 313,000 parking spaces. Drivers who can’t find a free, authorized spot end up parking in unsafe locations like offramps to take required breaks and avoid HoS violations.

In addition to being unsafe, parking also hits drivers’ earnings. According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), spending time looking for parking costs the average truck driver about $5,500 in direct compensation.

Zonar MobileCommand features a live map that shows the assigned route, plus parking facilities along the way. To help them avoid violations, MobileCommand also highlights where they’ll likely run out of available hours according to the integrated ELD solution. Drivers finalize their route and plan their pitstops as waypoints back to the TMS for greater transparency with dispatchers, who need to know drivers’ routes and stops.

All of which makes drivers’ days safer, less stressful, and more productive.

Empower the other half of the workflow unification equation.

Unifying truck driver workflows taps only half of MobileCommand’s potential. Enabling driver managers to work with their drivers more directly and efficiently through the same app is the other half. MobileCommand opens real-time communication through a single, direct connection instead of passing through the TMS’s multiple checkpoints, which can break down messages if they suffer out-of-sync issues.

Raise job satisfaction and retention rates with Zonar MobileCommand.

Professional truck drivers who experience day-to-day stress and frustration over their tools are more likely to keep one eye open looking for a new fleet. Bonuses and benefits may not be enough to retain them. Providing the right tools on one intuitive, unified driver workflow also provides more reason to stay.

Why Zonar MobileCommand

• Multiple ways to keep drivers informed and up to date
• Can be used in the cab or on a personal device so drivers get the same look and feel
• Integrates with other apps to provide a single-pane-of-glass interface to essential tools
• Navigation capabilities include routing and points of interest for faster, easier trip planning
• Digitizes and centralizes documents to make turning them in faster and easier
• Frees drivers from being tied to their truck to wait for assignments or messages

Reducing their daily complexity demonstrates that you value their expertise, effort and daily grind. Not a claim every carrier can make…and drivers know it.

Deno sums it up. “Put it all at their fingertips. One login, one interface designed for experienced and fresh truck drivers alike. Make it easier for them to earn a living. And they’ll remember next time another fleet extends them an offer.” Click here to learn more about Zonar MobileCommand.