What it does
A load comes with paperwork and, too often, a wait. Fort Route keeps both on your phone, in the Trips tab.
The document scanner turns a bill of lading, proof of delivery, lumper receipt or rate confirmation into one clean PDF you can send from the cab. The detention clock starts by itself once you've been parked at a stop for 3 minutes, and its report carries the GPS times. Shipper and receiver notes keep what you learned about each facility for the next time a load sends you there.
How it works in the app
Scan documents to one PDF
The scanner is built for BOLs, PODs, lumper receipts and rate confirmations.
- Open the document scanner in the Trips tab while you're parked.
- Photograph each page. Fort Route cleans every page up to black and white so the text stays readable.
- Save, and the pages become one PDF stored on your phone.
- Send it with your phone's share sheet, to email or whichever app your broker or carrier uses.
Detention clock
The clock starts by itself after you've been parked for 3 minutes within 250 meters (about 820 feet) of your destination or one of your stops. It stops when the truck leaves, once you're 400 meters (about a quarter mile) away. You don't have to remember to start it while you're dealing with the guard shack.
Free time and your hourly rate are settings on the clock. The report includes the GPS times, and you can share it or copy it into a message to your broker or carrier when you ask for detention pay.
Shipper and receiver notes
Each facility can carry notes you add:
- The truck entrance, which Fort Route uses as the routing target, so the route ends at the gate trucks use instead of the front office
- Whether overnight parking is allowed
- Check-in notes, such as which window to go to or what to have ready
- Your past wait times at that facility
The notes show with your current trip's stops in the Trips tab. A truck entrance also sharpens the truck-safe route for the last mile, where a street address alone can put you at the wrong gate.
Limits to know
The detention clock works from GPS, and like the other GPS features in the beta, it reads your location while Fort Route is open. If the app is closed or in the background, it can't see you arrive or leave. The GPS times are a record of where your phone was; whether detention gets paid depends on your agreement with the broker or carrier.
Scanned PDFs are saved on your phone, so send or back up the ones you need to keep. The Trips tab is locked while the truck is moving and opens again when you're parked.
To see whether a load is still worth it after a long wait, run it through the load calculator. Your hours-of-service planner shows what the time at the dock leaves you for driving.
Frequently asked questions
Does the detention clock start automatically?
Yes, the clock starts by itself after 3 minutes parked within 250 meters (about 820 feet) of your destination or a stop. It stops when the truck moves 400 meters (about a quarter mile) away.
What's in the detention report?
The report includes the GPS times recorded by the clock. You can share it or copy it into a message, and your free time and hourly rate are set in the clock's settings.
Where are scanned documents saved?
Scans are saved on your phone as a single PDF, with every page cleaned up to black and white. Send them with your phone's share sheet to email or any app you use for paperwork.
How does a truck entrance note change my route?
When you save a truck entrance for a facility, Fort Route routes to that entrance instead of the facility's address. The end of the trip then lands on the gate trucks use.