Terminal appointments and gate passes, booked for you

The problem with appointments today

For most dispatchers, booking an appointment means opening a terminal website, logging in, typing the container number, picking a slot, copying the pin and texting it to a driver. Then the plan changes. The driver swaps trucks, the box is not ready, or the empty has to go to a different terminal. Each change is another trip to the portal.

DrayTech does this work from the shipment itself. The appointment lives on the same screen as the container, the driver and the delivery.

How it works at Port Houston

At Bayport and Barbours Cut, DrayTech is connected directly to Port Houston's terminal system. It books pre-gate pins for you:

• Pickup pins on trip start. When a driver starts the trip, DrayTech books the pickup gate pass and sends the pin to the driver app.
• The right truck on the pass. When a driver is assigned, the real truck plate is put on the pass.
• The right day. The pass is booked for the day your schedule says, not the day someone remembered to log in.
• Gate quota checked first. DrayTech checks the gate's limits before it books.
• Expired pins replaced. If a pin expires or is re-booked, DrayTech catches it and the driver always has the current one.

Empty returns, routed to the terminal that takes the box

Empty returns are where Houston carriers lose the most time. Before booking any return pin, DrayTech checks gate restrictions, the daily empty-acceptance list and the line's notices. Then it books at the terminal that is taking that box: Bayport, Barbours Cut, or the line's depot when neither terminal will take it. If both terminals accept the empty, DrayTech returns it to the terminal where the driver's next pickup is. The driver is told about any change.

How it works in Oakland

In Oakland, DrayTech handles appointments for OICT, TraPac and Everport from the shipment, working with eModal Pre-Gate and the terminals' own systems. At OICT, the empty return is booked when a driver and chassis are assigned to the leg, so the return is ready before the delivery is done. See Oakland drayage software for more.

The pin goes straight to the driver

Every pin and appointment window shows up in the DrayTech driver app on the current trip. Drivers do not wait for a text. Dispatchers do not read pins over the phone. If the pin changes, the app changes.

Dispatch keeps control

Automation should not surprise your team. DrayTech follows a few firm rules:

• Delivery appointments with receivers are not moved just because a driver is running late. Dispatch decides.
• A box with a hold is not booked. There is no point sending a truck to a container that cannot come out. See holds and terminal fees.
• Every booking is logged on the shipment with the time and the pin, so anyone can see what happened.

Why it matters

Appointments are small tasks that add up. A dispatcher booking passes by hand for a busy board can spend hours a day in portals. Mistakes cost more: a pin for the wrong day, a pass with the wrong truck, an empty sent to a terminal that is not taking it. When appointments run from the shipment, your team spends that time on the exceptions instead.

Works with tracing

Appointments depend on good data. DrayTech's container tracking watches availability, holds and last free day, so a pass is booked when the box is actually ready and not before.