The Georgia Ports Authority has rolled out its GPA Trucker mobile app to make the trucker experience smoother, easier and faster at Port of Savannah terminals.

The Port of Savannah averages 14,000 to 16,000 gate moves daily from 4am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Truck turn times at Garden City Terminal average 35 minutes for a single move or 53 minutes for dual moves when a driver is delivering an export and picking up an import.

The app puts more information at drivers’ fingertips to make their work easier. Through the app, drivers can save drive time, simplify paperwork and get notifications such as changes to gate hours to help plan the day. For ease of use, the app offers facial recognition or fingerprint opening.

“At GPA, we see drivers as our front-line customers, and we are always working to provide a superior customer experience,” said GPA CEO Griff Lynch. “Helping truckers solve problems before they arrive at our gates improves overall efficiency for them and for the cargo owners who choose Georgia Ports.”

Lynch added drivers could make six to eight turns a day for deliveries to local warehouses and still be home for dinner with their families. He said such supply chain velocity created a financial benefit for cargo owners’ inventory carrying costs.

The app’s initial purpose is to improve and simplify the process for container transactions. To track container moves, Georgia Ports uses PINs, which are good for 72 hours. Drivers provide the PIN at the terminal gate to receive a paper ticket with a container’s pickup or drop-off location.

The app now provides a digital version of the ticket that can be saved or transmitted to a driver’s trucking company. The app’s next generation will include a push function, so drivers will automatically receive their digital tickets, instead of having to search in the app.

Through the app, drivers can avoid trips if, for instance, the time limit has expired on the PIN issued for a container move or an export container has shifted to a different vessel.

Additionally, the app informs drivers which terminal entry gate is closest to the container, and sends announcements such as changes to gate hours and weather alerts. Future functionality will include navigation assistance through Waze or Apple Maps, so drivers can more easily find containers on terminal.

The app is available on the Apple AppStore or Google Play by searching for GPA Trucker. Learn more about using the app at gaports.com/motor-carriers.

Now in its 80th year of operation, Georgia’s ports and inland terminals support more than 609,000 jobs throughout the state annually, contributing $40bn in income, $171bn in revenue and $5.3bn in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. In the past decade, GPA has invested $3.2bn in infrastructure. GPA (gaports.com) anticipates investing $4.5bn in the next ten years as part of its port master plan to expand cargo handling capabilities and support future supply chain requirements.