BOLT System, a fleet management and freight tracking software company, has announced a new mobile app for its customers and drivers. Called BOLT Tandem Workflow, the app is connected to customer accounts and provides drivers with a suite of services to improve driving productivity, while also streamlining paperwork. The application is available for Android and iOS-based tablets or smartphones.
According to Jerry Robertson, BOLT System’s chief technology officer, BOLT Tandem Workflow augments what ELDs provide. “It’s a new driver interface that extends what we can do with our customers and their drivers,” he said. “When our customers dispatch loads to their drivers through BOLT, drivers can see the destination on their ELDs if they have a screen for messaging. But their smartphone or tablet now gives them complete guidance and alerts for their delivery, plus it allows for mobile imaging.”
Through BOLT Tandem Workflow, drivers are shown a map of their route to their delivery drop, along with their estimated time of arrival. By hitting the weather symbol, drivers can see any potential weather alerts, such as snow warnings in the mountains, heavy rain or high wind alerts. Likewise, they can click on the traffic icon to see if there are potential traffic issues, like bridge or road closures. Once the driver is on the road, the app can give directions to the final destination.
“Those are very helpful tools for drivers,” said Robertson. “But another big payoff of our app is that it can forecast when hours of service are drying up, and where en-route you’re likely to be when you’ll have to shut down for a re-set. That helps drivers plan for parking.”
From an operations standpoint, BOLT can work with its customers to input preferences for fuel purchases. “That way, if one of our customers has a fuel contract with a truck stop chain, all a driver has to do is hit the fuel symbol to see where the closest preferred fueling station is. What’s more, our customers can message individual drivers, or broadcast messages to all drivers through the app.”
Once a delivery is made, the BOLT app can document and transmit bills of lading. “We designed ‘image capture’ into the app, so a driver can simply take a picture of the document and it can then be transmitted to the back office for processing,” said Robertson. “This speeds billing by attaching the document to the purchase order.” In addition, multiple barcode standards are interpreted by the BOLT app, providing freight information from individual SKUs to pallet or case content information. “Barcode scanning significantly improves the process of loading and unloading.
“Our new app is very robust with features,” concluded Robertson. “The name of the game is productivity and giving drivers tools that make their job easier. The BOLT Tandem Workflow app does just that.”
