Back Up Plan

For as "old-school" as a lot of folks in our industry are at times, technology is taking roots in trucking at an exponential rate.  With everything from the number of computers that control a truck's operating, to the constant introduction of new apps aimed at helping to make trucking more efficient, not a day goes by that we don't hear of some kind of new technology headed our way.  As tech-savvy as I like to think I am, I still believe that it is always important to have a back-up plan for when technology fails!
 
New technology does wonders for making me more efficient in my trucking business.  Today's trucks are pushing the envelope for fuel economy and reliability thanks to ever-advancing computer, which helps our bottom lines.  My invoicing and dispatching are all done with the help of apps and spreadsheets as well.  As heavily as I tend to rely on technology to help me ease the pain of running my trucks, I don't do anything without a back-up plan.  I still keep paper copies of my invoices on file in my office, as well as all POD hard copies for a set number of years.
 
Shippers should take heed of such advice too!  It is all too often that I walk into a pickup location and when it comes time to print bills, I end up waiting longer for the bills to be printed than it took for them to load me, all usually as a result of a technical glitch or their system being down.  Most of these shippers rely so heavily on their systems that when they go down, they don't even know how to write a handbill for the freight I am receiving from them to haul.  I have even been to locations where they can't write handbills, leaving me with no choice but to wait for their system to come back online, which has literally taken hours on one occasion!
 
As efficient as technology is, it is still created and coded by human beings, therefore it is still prone to human-error.  Programming glitches and unforeseen outages can lead to inconvenient downtime if not properly planned ahead for.  Keeping paper copies of everything like I do, although redundant, can be a saving grace in the event your technology has an outage.  Making sure you have things like contact lists, phone numbers, and paper copies of important documents can ease your pain should your tech take a dump!