There is more than one kind of strike. Excuse the flagrantly attention-seeking headline, but the one we’re referring to is the bridge strike, of which there are around 5 a day in the UK. That’s a ludicrous statistic and one that could be eradicated completely with very little effort. Let’s have a look at how bridge strikes happen and how they’re handled at the moment.
It’s the driver’s fault
When a bridge is truck, it’s ultimately the driver’s fault. The current system gives drivers far too much responsibility for deciding whether a bridge is high enough for them to pass under - plainly, they have enough pressures in their job (getting there on time, increasing congestion, etc.) and we add even more on top. Allowing so much margin for human error in the routing process is simply wrong in this day and age. While it’s true that most companies provide additional training and incorporate bridge-avoidance procedures into their standard ways of working, they still put the final onus on drivers and theirs is a weak reaction to a problem that needs a proactive approach.
Prevention is better than cure
The cure, of course, is prevention. At the moment, the first a company knows of a bridge strike is only once it has happened, which is followed by a post mortem in which most of the focus is on why it happened. We say, stop the strikes happening in the first place!
It’s our contention that the transport industry must be proactive and the best way of doing that is for transport operators to implement an intelligent, internet-based transport management system (TMS) which can reduce the likelihood of some, if not all, bridge strikes by ensuring that routes are not just provided to the driver, but to other interested stakeholders as the routes are being driven. They can also be provided with real-time notifications if a vehicle is being diverted off a planned route, and if an alternative safe route has been provided and what it is. All this information can be provided in real-time, so interventions can take place as soon as possible - i.e. prior to any bridge strikes.
Prove it?
If you think the above solution is pie-in-the-sky, you're wrong and we can prove it to you - contact Bashir Khan here and he'll be happy to show you how a bridge strike-avoidance solution is being delivered to our customers right now via our CarrierNet platform (NB: without removing any other fundamental driver responsibilities).
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