Make Recording Your Trip Touchless With a Trip Sheet App

Fleet managers are constantly looking for ways to keep on truckin’. That means always looking for a competitive advantage. Today, we’re going to take a look at the best features of a touchless trip sheet app for the logistics industry.

What Is a Trip Sheet?

Trip sheets have evolved with the trucking industry as the one-stop shop for trip information. A trip sheet allows drivers to collect all the relevant shipment information in a single, centralized location. Trip sheets help drivers manage cash flow and ensure they meet FMCSA compliance.

The information collected on a trip sheet usually includes:

• BOL and release numbers
• Weight information
• Arrival and departure times
• IFTA recording
• State line crossings and odometer readings
• Shipper and consignee information
• Pickup information, including multi/LTL pickups
• And more

Why Use a Trip Sheet App?

In general, trip sheets help you with document organization and compliance. But you can add efficiency, synchronization, and safety to that list when you download a top touchless trip sheet app.

But before we dive into the latest in cutting-edge trucking and trip app software, let’s talk a little about trips and trucking—and get clear on our truckin’ history.

“Truckin’, Got My Chips Cashed In…”

First of all, we can all agree that the world of logistics is vast, nichey, and dynamic, right? We also agree logistics is the backbone of the global economy. In other words, you can have as much skin in the game as you want, but without logistics, none of it works.

That said, everyone can also agree that the unofficial official anthem of the logistics industry is the classic Grateful Dead song, “Truckin’.”

To put it another way, since logistics makes the world go ’round, and “Truckin'” is the anthem of logistics, lately it occurs to me that “Truckin'” is one of the most important songs ever written.

“Keep Truckin’, Like the Doodah Man…”

Robert Hunter wrote “Truckin'” with members of the Grateful Dead. The band released the song in 1970. Thanks to their fanatic fan base of Deadheads, we know they subsequently performed “Truckin'” live 520 times. In turn, “Truckin'” is a favorite go-to Grateful Dead song of classic rock DJs across the country. As such, certain lyrics from “Truckin'” have become ingrained into American slang.

“Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me.
Other times, I can barely see.
Lately, it occurs to me,
What a long, strange trip it’s been”

The “long, strange trip” is a lyric that has always resonated in the logistics industry. But Grateful Dead singer Bob Weir described the feeling they tried to capture in the song, stating, “There was a romance about being a young man on the road in America, and you had to do it! It was a rite of passage.”

The lyric “just keep truckin’ on” suggests the best way to manage the churn of change is to simply keep moving—keep truckin’!  In reality, the term “keep on truckin'” is the American equivalent of the classic British mantra, “keep calm and carry on.”

The new tools of logistics fall in line with these core ideas of evolution and endurance. For example, in the past, people used trip sheets to record drivers’ trip information and organize important documents. New trip sheet apps, like the kind offered by Vector, still perform that same vital role, only better—and with the added benefit of being touchless.

In other words, because the Vector app is contactless, it allows you to streamline your day-to-day operations while protecting drivers, warehouse teams, and office personnel.

“Together, More or Less In Line…Just Keep Truckin’ On…”

Despite popular notions, the phrase “keep on truckin'” wasn’t actually an invention of the Grateful Dead. Instead, the 1960s-era cartoonist Robert Crumb popularized the saying.

At the end of the day, different iterations of the “Keep on Truckin'” mythos are really a single, continuous manifestation of the “keep on truckin'” ethos. In other words, “keep on truckin'” is a mentality that means something along the lines of “have faith in the eternal power of renewal, regardless of what comes next.” That’s a good mentality to have when you’re out on the road on a long, strange trip.

Here’s another thing that’s good to have for the long, strange trip: a solid touchless trip sheet app.

“Chicago, New York, Detroit, and It’s All on the Same Street…”

Have you noticed? Things seem pretty strange out there. This is especially noticeable in the trucking industry, with its added emphasis on safety and social distancing at shippers, consignees, and warehouses. It makes all the sense in the world. From a risk mitigation perspective, why pass paper when there’s an app for that?

Vector’s value proposition is pretty simple. With Vector, all your paperwork becomes digital. Vector was already regarded as having the best-in-class imaging technology before the pandemic. And now, with infections remaining widespread, you have another compelling reason to upgrade your paperwork system.

The decision makers involved in the trucking industry now understand that for the relatively low price of touchless software, they can mitigate a huge amount of the existential risk facing them. No one wants to see an illness sweep through a warehouse or back office and cause a company to shut down. Likewise, drivers don’t want to expose themselves to possibly becoming ill or spreading illness. Margins are too thin for shutdowns, and you can’t work from home in trucking and warehousing.

As such, now is the time when smart companies are looking at the current landscape and investing in the future.

“It Takes Time, You Pick a Place to Go…”

In other words, nobody wants to be the Typhoid Mary of these weird times. But along with getting stranger, the world is getting more competitive. Without a doubt, some companies will find a way to adapt and thrive in these strange times. Share docs, not colds!

Vector’s paperless document software was once considered a hard sell—a bit too strange, if you will. Fleet managers were comfortable with the way things had always been, and all the paper shuffling that went along with it.

The new normal means things have changed. And now Vector’s paperless documents also mean contactless documents. In short, along with streamlining efficiency and saving real dollars that way, Vector’s trip sheets have changed the definition of the word contactless.

• Contactless now means safety.
• Contactless now means risk mitigation.
• And contactless now means value protection.

Fleet managers across the country spend their whole day with one eye on efficiency and one eye on safety. Vector gives you a solution for both.

“Lately It Occurs To Me…What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been!”

The author Hunter S. Thompson had a famous saying: “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” I think you probably get what he meant. We must not only keep on truckin’, but we must also lean in to the prevailing winds. We must adapt and evolve. The world is changing, and once again logistics and trucking are leading the way into the future.

Are you a fleet manager? The next time you meet with the decision maker at your company, tell them to look into Vector and its contactless trip sheet app. Vector will help you keep on truckin’ all night long.

This post was written by Brian Deines. Brian believes that every day is a referendum on a brand’s relevance, and he’s excited to bring that kind of thinking to the world of modern manufacturing and logistics. He deploys a full-stack of business development, sales, and marketing tools built through years of work in the logistics, packaging, and tier-1 part supply industries serving a customer base comprised of Fortune 1000 OEMs.