Trucks that arrive when the boxes do
Daan has four trucks that collect containers from the terminals at Maasvlakte, in the port of Rotterdam.
Listen to the story:
The challenge
His drivers are booked to collect boxes off ships that are often hours late. They queue at the gate for a ship still out at sea, and he pays them for every hour of sitting. Some days a truck waits so long it misses its next job.
How the flow works
With xMap Flows, Daan built Tidewatch. Tidewatch is an AI employee: a flow of 7 blocks.
Every fifteen minutes,
Every fifteen minutes (Schedule)
over the Maasvlakte terminals,
Maasvlakte terminals (Area of interest)
Tidewatch listens for the container ships nearby,
Container ships nearby (Ships (AIS))
notices the moment one moors at the terminal,
Moored at the terminal (Zone alert)
checks it is carrying his clients' boxes,
Carrying his clients' boxes (Match with my table)
waits three hours while the cranes unload,
Three hours to unload (Wait)
and tells the driver to set off.
Driver, go now (Telegram Bot)
What it solves
- Trucks queue for ships: solved by Ships (AIS) and Zone alert
- Paid hours of waiting: solved by Wait and Telegram Bot
- Next jobs missed: solved by Zone alert and Wait
The result
On Wednesday the ship his drivers need is six hours late. Tidewatch stays quiet until it moors at half past one, then sends the first driver at half past four. He is in and out in forty minutes. That week the trucks wait eleven hours less.
Daan stopped paying for waiting. His trucks now arrive when the boxes do.
An illustrative scenario: the figures are modelled to show what the flow produces, not a customer's results.
The flow, block by block
- 1
- 2
Maasvlakte terminals
Sets where the flow looks: countries, cities or specific places, or areas you draw on a map.
- 3
Container ships nearby
Ships at sea or in port right now, from AIS (the signal ships send with their position, speed and heading; live from AISStream): every vessel heard in the Area of interest before this block, or around a point.
- 4
Moored at the terminal
Reports items (ships, for example) that entered, crossed, are inside or left a zone.
- 5
Carrying his clients' boxes
Looks each incoming item up in one of your tables or saved lists (My data), for example your customers.
- 6
Three hours to unload
Holds the items for a while, then lets them carry on: a reminder two days after the first email, or nothing sent before 9 in the morning.
- 7
Templates to build it
Ready-made flows with the same blocks. Open one, change the city and the kind of place, and run it.
- Ships entering my zoneAn email when a ship enters or passes through your zone, every hour.
- Cruise ships arriving at the portAn alert, with WhatsApp to the guides, when a cruise ship enters the port.
- Offshore supply boats at the base, every eveningSupply and service boats at the base each evening.
- Ships stopped off the coastShips stopped off the coast that entered the area, every hour.
- Ships arriving at the port, for the business deskShips entering the port each hour, each in one newsy line.
- Aid cargo ships arriving at the portAid cargo ships arriving at the relief port, every hour.
Industries
Learn how it works
- GeofencingA virtual boundary that triggers something when an item enters or leaves it.
- AIS (ship tracking)Radio messages ships send with their identity, position and course.
- How to be alerted when ships enter a port areaA zone, a live AIS stream and an alert.
- Zone alerts: know when something enters an areaShips, vehicles or any moving item crossing your zone.
- Ships (AIS)Ships in a sea area, their type, speed and destination.
- Draw your areas and pointsShapes, circles and points with a distance around each.
More stories from Logistics & ports
- Five riders who never sit in a closed roadThabo runs a small motorbike courier company in Johannesburg, with five riders and a lot of parcels.
- The dock knows before the load gets warmZoe runs cold chain dispatch at a large chilled food distributor in Brisbane.
- Twenty new lockers, every one where people liveBen plans the parcel locker network for a large delivery company in Vancouver.
- Not one sofa caught in the afternoon stormGabriela runs a small furniture delivery business in Panama City, with two vans and a lot of sofas.
Build this flow on your own city
Run a live search on the home page without an account, or let Ask xMap build the flow from one sentence.