March 2018
How to Manage Detention: Boost Efficiency and Cut Costs
It’s too common a scenario – a driver arrives on site to load/unload but can’t begin until the previous carrier leaves or until the team or equipment used for loading/unloading is available. These little delays add up fast, and when a delay pushes the driver’s on-site time past a certain threshold (often two hours), detention fees kick in. These can range from $50 to $100 per hour and can add up quickly. A single delay may not be a huge concern, but when delays consistently happen, waiting times build up and chip away at driving time, asset utilization, and profits.
Why Detention Happens
Detention charges are incurred when a driver is held up, due to delays in loading or unloading. These charges compensate the carrier when they are waiting to empty or load and can snowball in a hurry. A single delay can cause a backup that impacts the driver’s entire schedule, preventing them from delivering his next load on time or even causing them to run out of legal driving hours. Detention charges vary and are calculated hourly or by the minute; the best way to reduce or even eliminate detention fees is to incorporate a flexible, rules-based detention monitoring software that notifies, monitors, and invoices customers while providing good analysis reporting.
Managing Detention with AOS
When drivers are forced to wait outside of the free time limit, detention charges begin to accrue. Drivers’ available HOS are wasted, causing delays on the next load, and thus the loss of miles and asset utilization. With a good detention system, the customer loading and unloading times are monitored. The customer is notified and billed, and a reporting history is collected. AOS Detention System software offers several advantages for users, including:
Data Collection and Extensive Reporting: Recording every delay, the time, and the reason for the delay provides a clear understanding of where the issues lie and allows them to be addressed.
Easy, Real Time Customer Notification: When you can reach out and connect with the customer in real time, you can discover any pending issues – AOS supports phone, email, fax and other communication methods to ensure you always have the latest information and can make the right decision for your shipments. One company that uses AOS solutions stated that customers now give preference to the brand’s drivers, simply because they know how effectively the detention costs are managed and want to save money.
Needs Based: By analyzing the concerns and needs of hundreds of real truckload carriers, the AOS team was able to create a custom solution that is designed to specifically address detention, reduce cost, and improve utilization.
Payment Modules: It’s easier than ever to pay drivers and owner-operators, with the AOS rules-based detention module.
Enhanced ROI: The AOS system pays off rapidly – within the first few weeks of use, companies report that they were able to begin increasing revenues and improving their bottom line.
Learn more about effectively managing detention and improving your bottom line. AOS innovative detention module has everything you need to operate in a cost-efficient manner and recover revenues you could be missing out on.