Industrial sites are often synonymous with linguistic crossroads. Road haulers frequently come from different horizons, and are directly confronted with an issue linked to Europe’s cultural plurality: the language barrier. All too often, simple situations of misunderstandings can lead to lost time, errors in operations and, consequently, lost revenue for the host company.
With an average of 75% non-French-speaking HGV drivers operating on industrial sites in France, we at PrivaMap decided to break down the language barrier between site employees and carriers.
How do you optimize flows while making daily life easier for carriers and staff ?
Many people talk about the « last mile », but at PrivaMap we prefer to talk about the « last 100 meters ». For a driver who has to carry out an unloading operation, entering the site is not the same as arriving!
When an HGV driver goes to a private site, he has to get to grips with a new, standardized, secure, and regulated world. He puts aside the « Waze » or « Google Maps » that brought him to the entrance and has to take note of the new directions given by the reception staff.
With more than 15 languages spoken in Europe, this can lead to situations of misunderstandings and bottlenecks at the driver reception desk, which can have a major impact on logistics.
Our objective at PrivaMap is simple: providing each driver an easy access, in their language, to all the information relating to the operations they have to carry out, as soon as they arrive on site. By adapting to your drivers’ reception and your software (TMS, YMS…), each driver can access the itinerary and the various stages of his journey on-site in his own language. To achieve this, drivers scan a QR code or receive a link by text, and can access an automatically optimized route in their language, without having to download anything. All they have to do is follow the navigation indicated on their smartphone, which is customized for the site’s operation.
The impact of misunderstandings and how to avoid them
Errors in instructions due to language barriers can have several consequences on your logistics flow:
- delivery delays
- loading and unloading errors
- final customer dissatisfaction
Carriers may also encounter difficulties in navigating the delivery site, finding the appropriate docks, and complying with specific procedures imposed by the customer. Nevertheless, there are solutions available today, such as tablet-based translators, flow automation, and improved yard management with TMS or YMS.
We are convinced that these solutions are essential for optimizing your supply chain. Nevertheless, they are insufficient and incomplete when it comes to dealing with the misunderstandings that carriers may encounter on-site.
Borderless communication, or when the visual takes the floor during on-site operations
The guidance system developed by PrivaMap provides each driver with all the steps he needs to follow on-site. This optimizes and secures every route and on-site operation. Geolocated by GPS, the driver receives the entire route updated in real-time directly in his language.
Each driver’s route is thus optimized, and errors linked to misunderstandings finally disappear from your site’s daily routine.
Find out more about PrivaMap and road transport issues by clicking here!
