Improved Port Driver App

By Karen Robes Meeks

The Northwest Seaport Alliance has relaunched a new and improved DrayQ phone app that gives truck drivers more accurate real-time information about wait times at marine terminals, and camera views of traffic.

Available on iOS and Android smart phones and tablets, DrayQ was developed with the port industry in an effort to curb long wait times and congestion at terminals. The app lines up with the framework of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Connected Vehicle Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) and StrongPorts program.

Improvements to the app – initially launched last October – were made after users said the listed wait times were not accurate enough. Wait times information come from readers that record a driver’s smart device GPS data, whenever a truck passes by the readers as the vehicle travels along the terminal.

More readers have been added to make wait time data more accurate.

"We continue to seek innovative ways that technology can help us speed our operations, save our customers time and money and reduce port-related emissions," said Dustin Stoker, NWSA’s chief operations officer. "Our Operations Service Center engages regularly with supply chain stakeholders to anticipate changing needs."

Trucker Creates Container Exchange App

By Mark Edward Nero

A new mobile phone application – the brainchild of a harbor driver – has been developed to get truckers out of line at the Port of Oakland.

Filex Fok, a licensed motor carrier at the port, introduced the new app last week. The app, which Fok calls Jupigo, helps harbor truckers exchange empty cargo containers without ever entering the port. The objective is to keep truckers on the road and not waiting at terminal gates.

Jupigo functions like a dating app for truck drivers who have equipment needs: drivers with empty containers to return post their equipment availability on Jupigo, and truckers searching for empties also post their requirements. The app automatically alerts both drivers, who can then initiate a container exchange.

“Imagine the benefits when there is a match on this platform,” Fok said. “Two trucks off the waiting line and on the road making productive trips.”

Other benefits of the app, Fok said, include reduced diesel emissions and fuel consumption because truckers won’t wait in line to return empty containers; less crowding at marine terminal gates; and bigger paydays for drivers who can haul more cargo by making fewer port visits.

“Everyone gains from this development,” Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll said. “But what I like is that this was created by truckers for truckers.”

Container swaps executed outside marine terminals are known in the industry as street-turns. They’re desirable because they spare drivers the need to pick-up or return empties within the port.

Oakland truckers have sometimes used email or online chats to arrange street-turns, but Fok said Jupigo will be more efficient because of its automatic matching feature, SmartMatch. He also added though, that his app can’t finalize street-turns; truckers must still contact the shipping lines that own the empty containers, which is usually done through an online form.

Jupigo estimates there are 2,000 to 3,000 street turns conducted by Port of Oakland drivers weekly. The company hopes to more than double the number with its new app. The free app should be available in app stores next month, Fok said.

Jupigo is the third container traffic app introduced at the Port of Oakland in the past few weeks. The others, called DrayQ and DrayLink, give drivers real time metrics on gate queues and terminal transaction times. They were developed for the Port of Oakland by Virginia-based tech firm Leidos.

Oakland Port Introduces Trucker Phone Apps

By Mark Edward Nero

On April 5, the Port of Oakland introduced two new smart phone applications that provide a tech-based calculation of harbor trucker turn times. It’s something the port predicts could transform containerized cargo handling at seaports.

The apps, DrayQ and DrayLink, employ Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS technology. They tell drivers how long they’ll wait to enter marine terminal gates and how long their transactions will take.

DrayQ users will be able to log-in to the app to view marine terminal wait times on their phones. DrayLink, will connect harbor truckers with shippers and the companies that dispatch drivers. DrayLink will also provide validated wait-time reports for truckers who register to use the service. It will also verify driver compliance with regulations required for access to terminals.

“We know of no other port measuring trucker transaction times with this precision,” Port of Oakland Executive Director Chris Lytle said. “This takes the myth out of measurement and gives us a window into port performance.”

The port said it commissioned apps to meet demand for accurate measurement of cargo pick-up and delivery times. The port hired Virginia-based scientific and engineering services company Leidos to license, deploy and maintain the apps.

Oakland worked with Leidos to expand a wireless network throughout the port to more closely connect the drayage truck community with marine terminal operators, cargo owners, and other stakeholders.

The port said its new apps can transform container shipping in a number of ways, including that drivers and cargo owners can receive up-to-the minute information on turn times, and can now plan transactions around peak periods of marine terminal activity.

Additionally, ports can get data on how quickly terminals are moving containers for cargo owners. Also, shippers and trucking firms will be able to monitor driver location and progress in real time to improve dispatching.

The smart phone apps are expected to be available via the Apple and Google app stores by the end of April.