How hauliers can make all the right moves with Truck Aware Route Planning and Driver Sat Nav

Hauliers planning routes for heavy goods vehicles or trucks need to plan the most efficient and safest routes for their drivers and fleet, taking into account truck-specific attributes and physical restrictions.

A Mandata Route Planning system allows the most efficient and realistic plan to be created during the route planning process and, when jobs are output to drivers via the Manifest+ app, it provides turn-by-turn navigation with voice guidance ensuring drivers continue on the safest route just as you’ve planned.

Mandata Tracking and driver Navigation app utilise what’s known as truck-aware routing, ensuring road transport operators optimise delivery performance, fuel efficiency, driver safety and security.

Here are the main benefits of using Mandata truck aware routing and the driver Manifest+ App with built-in Sat Nav:

• The calculated route is truck aware based on key vehicle attributes (height/weight/length/hazardous goods/etc). It means you’ll have a realistic view of what time the vehicle is due to arrive based on the truck and traffic conditions.
• The system is aware of current traffic conditions. Warnings are presented to the user and ETAs adjusted accordingly and alternate routes suggested if traffic congestion ahead is detected.
• The traffic planner/manager can view an ETA to the destination and has full control with one view of the operation.
• GPRS connectivity is not required for navigation as maps are downloaded to the phone and available offline to the driver.
• Drivers select their next job and the navigation will lead the driver to the next destination using the calculated truck aware route as you’ve planned.
• If the vehicle goes off route the route is recalculated.
• The sat nav provides an animated 2D/3D map view, with directions (visual and spoken), speed limits and warnings, current speed and heading. Zoom, pan, re-centre controls are also available on screen.
• Drivers collect digital signatures at the delivery point which appear on the electronic delivery note behind the job within the Mandata TMS or Go transport management system ready to be invoiced.

Live visibility of the driver and vehicle en route:

1. The Mandata route solution provides an ETA for the vehicle’s full route based on truck aware routing making allowances for turn-around times at collection/delivery locations.
2. On the Mandata traffic pad (in TMS and Go) it will display the ETA to the next stop (ie the one the driver is going to at the moment). You can then drill down into the load to see the previous arrival times for ones the driver has been to, as well as ETAs to the rest of the stops on the load. You can click on the load and also see on a map where the vehicle is in relation to the stops.
3. A Live Arrivals board provides hauliers and shippers with an ETA view

Smart truck-aware navigation

The driver Sat Nav element of the Manifest+ app allows us to obtain an ETA from the calculated route on the App, providing an ETA to the next stop only. The subsequent ETA’s will still be based on the traffic planner’s planned route and the time it takes to get from A-B plus turn-around time.

These example images taken from the Mandata Navigation app show the Sat Nav display of a route. The driver carrying hazardous goods avoids driving through a tunnel, too hazardous for the tunnel in this case.