A new app, Dock411, will allow truck drivers to share their experiences with different shippers and rate those shippers. The information drivers can share includes directions to the facility, whether pets are allowed, if Wi-Fi is available and any challenges involved in backing into the dock.
With only the dock address, drivers can access what the company and other drivers have written about it, including details like dock door location, yard hazards, photos of the facility, the ability to park overnight and up to 35 other items. Drivers can then add details about their own experience.
Shippers can also eliminate unnecessary delays from driver or dispatcher miscommunication by sharing information about their location on the app as well.
Recently, Women in Trucking partnered with Dock411 to help female drivers prepare for their next pick up. Three questions were added to the app specific to female drivers: “Were the personnel helpful?”, “Were you treated like a professional?”, and “Were the restroom facilities adequate?”
“We are happy to be working with Ellen Voie and Women in Trucking to provide this information so the organization can better prepare both female and male drivers for their warehouse facility experience,” said Serewicz, Dock411 co-founder. “We believe this will work to improve the industry by removing unexpected surprises from the pickup or delivery operation.”
“A driver once told me how he defined a ‘gravy load,’ said WIT president and CEO Ellen Voie. “He said it was a shipment with no surprises, and now with the Dock411 app, any driver can be better prepared and will be able to anticipate challenges before he or she arrives at the dock. With Dock411, every load can be a ‘gravy load.'”
