Port of Oakland rolls out free software for truckers to track terminal wait times

The Port of Oakland today unveiled a mobile platform designed to provide intermodal truckers and dispatchers with real-time status of port operational conditions, a move it says will improve fleet planning and utilization, and allow their people to make needed service changes on the fly.

The free app, called "DrayQ," anonymously tracks the progress of every truck whose driver carries a cell phone. The technology will provide fleets, whose drivers may be miles from the terminal gates, with immediate status of terminal wait times, as well as the duration of each transaction in the terminal, the port said. The software will display port waiting times with much the same appearance as digital freeway drive-time signboards, the port said.

Oakland said it is the first U.S. port to use the app. In a statement, it said truckers and dispatchers would finally have a precise measurement of the length of each terminal transaction, while cargo owners and terminal operators will have accurate data to determine whether containerized shipments are being efficiently processed.

In the statement, John Driscoll, the port's maritime director, said the software would allow fleets to eliminate the guesswork from a wide range of activities. The app was developed by Leidos, an engineering and defense firm based in Reston, Va. Port executives said they hope to have 3,000 drivers download the app by the end of June. The port plans to develop metrics that will measure the app's impact on the efficiency of its operations.