The desktop app allows you to easily check driver mobile device and mobile app information.

On the Admin/Drivers window, there is a tab called “Mobile Device”.

vda-driver details screenshot

On there you will find:

  • “Login info” section
    • All of the driver’s login information — user code, PIN, and truck number
  • “Mobile app” section
    • The last date and time they logged in, and the app version number and build number
    • Latest released version of the mobile app
    • The earliest version of the mobile app that is compatible with the current desktop app
  • “Driver mobile device” section
    • Phone platform, make, model, OS version, device name (if any), and cell carrier

The “Login info” section is filled in for all drivers, and may help you when talking to drivers who have trouble logging in.

The “Mobile app” and “Driver mobile device” information is now being recorded by the new 1.2.0000 (421) version, so as your drivers download the new version and log in, you will be able to see their device and app information and the version of the app they are using.

NOTE: If the “Mobile app” login information and the “Driver mobile device” information are not filled in for a driver, that means they are not yet using the 1.2.000 (421) version.

There is also a Mobile Device summary window to see the status of all drivers at once and print a report, this is covered in a separate blog entry.

How to Identify the error

Driver scans a barcode from the car’s door column and it is not recognized.

What it means

This may be due to the bar code having extra characters, the most common example being a vertical bar character “|” appended to the front of the barcode, like this:

What to do about it

Current versions of the app will try to ignore these extra characters, but if it makes a mistake the driver can work around it by selecting the VIN from the list (or enter the last 8 digits manually) instead of scanning.

 

The app should be catching all odd characters now, so if drivers have a problem of this type please obtain a photocopy of the barcode they were scanning so we can analyze it and improve the app.

 

Loads are identified in the desktop and mobile apps by their Load Number. The load numbers are 8-digit numbers like “15040555”, which breaks down like this:

about-load-numbers-year-month-count15040555

15: the last two digits of the year, so this load was created in 2015

04: the 2-digit month number, so this load was created in April

0555: load number this month, starting with 1, so this is the 555th load created in April 2015