API link MCA Road ensures more effective planning UCT

The freight forwarding office of United Container Transport BV organizes the daily road transport of sea containers over land. They bring goods from the port of Rotterdam to locations throughout Europe and vice versa, say father and daughter William and Laura van Beers.

Truck Operators who use the EDI link to make pre-announcements via Portbase must take into account that they have switched to the MCA Road API link before 31 December. The API link not only ensures that communication is much faster, it is also possible to request status information directly via the API link. Within seconds after entering the file, you can see whether the container is exempt or not and you can anticipate problem situations. Laura van Beers, co-owner of United Container Transport BV, has been experiencing the benefits of working with the API link for several weeks now. In this article she explains the positive impact of working with the coupling on the operation.

Obtain status information quickly and at an early stage

To make the transition to MCA Road as smooth as possible, Portbase has for some time been using a converter that converts the COPINO EDI messages into the MCA Road API messages. As of December 31, support for the EDI converter will end. Truck Operators who want to continue using MCA Road within their Modality system should integrate the MCA Road API interface before the end of the year, if desired. UCT has been using the API link for several weeks and is already noticing the positive effects. A team of three planners manages around 40 to 50 trucks on a daily basis. Previously, a large part of the time was spent on administrative tasks, which meant that the planners sometimes hardly got around to planning. Because you could only see whether a container was exempt or not when you made the final pre-notification, schedules had to be adjusted continuously at the last minute and it was difficult to inform customers in time.


“With the status information that we receive back via the API link, we immediately see whether a container can be planned or whether things are not yet in order. We put an order with reference and container numbers in the system and receive a response within fifteen seconds. Previously we had the websites of ten different terminals open with tabs. We now receive that information from the Modality system. We therefore have a much better overview and can contact the customer at an early stage if something is wrong. ”– Laura van Beers

To rule is to look into the future; be able to plan better thanks to automation of status request
 
Requesting status information is now done via the 'Status Request' button in the Modality system. In the old EDI scenario it was not possible to request this information. The MCA Road API link ensures that when a file is entered, a request for 'Status Request' is automatically sent, even before the trip(s) on a truck are planned. Moreover, the response speed is many times higher than in the former EDI scenario; few seconds as opposed to several minutes. The actual pre-announcement now only needs to be made when a trip is actually scheduled. This can also be done in a simple way directly from the system.

 “For our planners, it is really an addition that you can clearly see from the Modality system whether there is something wrong with a booking. In that case, we take a screenshot from the system and can forward it directly to the customer. As a result, our planners can start working again and spend much less time performing administrative tasks.” – Laura van Beers

Adjust arrival times independently by using the Truck APP
 
UCT wants to make better use of the Truck APP in the near future. Not only can the driver find all loading and unloading instructions in the Truck APP, he can also independently change his arrival time via the APP (outside office hours) if the original time slot is not met. The Truck APP offers the driver more insight and independence, so that office staff do not have to be called in to change arrival times at weekends and evenings.