The CCS-UK cargo community system will offer a truck slot booking module on its AIS software as part of efforts to help create efficiencies at handling facilities.
The group said the new slot booking function allows handlers to offer pre-booking and priority handling to selected agents and transport companies.
"The system caters for export deliveries and import collections, or a mix of both on the same vehicle, and applies to loose or palletised cargo," CCS-UK said.
Once a slot has been booked, the booking party is prompted to submit an electronic manifest of the cargo being delivered or collected, ahead of the vehicle’s actual arrival.
Reports can also be generated to show data such as punctuality and no-shows, enabling handlers to determine whether priority booking privileges should be withdrawn in the case of habitual non-compliance with bookings, the group said.
CCS-UK is currently talking to several companies about trialling the system, and expects to make enhancements as a result of feedback from users.
CCS-UK user group programme director Guy Thompson said: “AIS Slot Booking will speed the process of delivering or collecting cargo at participating transit sheds and provide total transparency of actual waiting and processing times to all parties.
“It should also enable handlers to work towards a more organised flow of vehicles, and to steer traffic into periods when they are less busy, so smoothing workloads and making more efficient use of their resources.
“With sufficient take-up by shed operators and visitors, AIS Slot Booking could help to prevent the kind of widespread congestion often seen at busier cargo areas such as Heathrow during peak periods.”
