As drivers progress on their routes, information about shipments accumulates at the hub. Traffic managers see shipment patterns and can actively plan rolling stock and personnel requirements before the pickup fleet arrives at the hub. Real time information systems allow transportation companies to dramatically improve all phases of their operations, from pickup through hub operations to deliveries. A PDF417 Symbol Contains More than One Kilobyte of Information. This paper-based message can contain an entire bill of lading.
Shippers can print it on existing paper documents with existing printers.
Drivers can read it into portable computers with a hand-held scanner in less than a second. Even with substantial damage to the symbol, the entire message can be accurately and easily extracted with no additional effort. Field Operations Real time field information requires effective data capture technology coupled to a wireless wide area network. The data capture technique must allow drivers with little or no computer background to quickly input required information. With wide area radio communications, carriers pay third party providers a fee based on the amount of data moved.