Just the mere thought of going paperless can make you feel like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Questions start bubbling up faster than you could hope to answer them – how do I begin? Where do I begin? What do I do with the years and years of paper we have filed, stacked, and stored? And why did technology have to come along and ruin everything?
Not to add to your stress, but the true root of your anxiety is actually the idea of continuing to operate with paper. In this article, we reveal the pains that come with staying with paper, in hopes that we can show you that you really can’t afford to wait any longer.
Pain #1: Losing your Competitive Edge
Running your business using paper-based processes is ineffective, unproductive, and ultimately slows your business down.
But more than that, according to SHRM in their article “Paper Applications Keep Hiring Practices Stuck in the Past”, companies who still rely on paper applications are missing out on the most qualified prospects.
“Enforcing a sluggish application process encourages strong candidates to look elsewhere,” said Joshua Ostrega, COO of WorkJam, a workforce management company.
Qualified, experienced drivers know their value, and don’t bother with places who still require them to complete a paper application. Especially those who have already submitted an IntelliApp in the past, as all their previous application information pre-populates, saving them hours and hours in their job search. What’s more, our IntelliApp is mobile-friendly, and drivers love that.
To illustrate this preference, last month (May, 2017), 65% of Tenstreet’s IntelliApps were completed on a mobile device. When there are carriers who are using online applications, expecting quality drivers to walk in the door to fill out a paper application isn’t realistic. We’ve been tracking this trend for nearly a decade now – and we see a clear pattern. And as more Millennials enter the workforce, the numbers will only continue to rise.
Pain #2: Paper Files Are Unsafe and Unsecure
Keeping your driver files in a file cabinet under lock and key may have been all the security you needed in the past. But today, with the threat of identity theft on the rise, the great responsibility of protecting the personal identifying information (PII) that you store on your drivers is more substantial. To risk having a name, SSN, and DOB of just one driver fall into the wrong hands could have the potential to wreak havoc on your employee’s life, making your company liable.
In the Tenstreet ATS, your drivers’ files couldn’t be safer. In fact, we recently became SOC 2 compliant, meaning we follow strict information security policies and procedures to protect the confidentiality of our client’s data. Additionally, our software has optional user role-based permissions available, allowing different groups of users different levels of access.
Pain #3: Paper Management is Inefficient and Costly
According to FileBridge, in “The Five Reasons to Stop Using Paper” the average employee spends up to 40% of their time looking through paper documents, trying to find the information they need. Wasting time and resources searching through file cabinets and stacks of paper is costly enough. But consider the hefty fee you could also be fined with when an auditor asks you to produce a driver qualification file.
When you’re in the middle of an audit, you are required to produce DQF files at the time of the review, on demand. If you don’t, you’re in immediate violation of §391.51.
Managing your current drivers’ DQF files, as well as all those drivers you employed in the last three years who are no longer working for you (also a DOT requirement), can be a Herculean challenge in the world of paper.
Tenstreet’s ATS and document management software allows you to create file types and categories for your drivers’ documents, keeping them organized, and making them easy to retrieve at a moment’s notice. Your Tenstreet DQF system not only alerts you of an upcoming file expiration date but also informs you of any DQF required files that are missing, too – helping you to stay on top of compliance.
FileBridge says it best: “To get real value out of going digital, you need a document management application that will drive compliance into your world and visibility into your files to ensure completeness.. one that will do the work for you, instead of creating more work for you – today and into the future.”
Bottom line: Tenstreet’s ATS empowers your company to stay competitive and organized, running efficiently, effectively, and staying compliant.
Take Your First Bite Today
So how do you tackle that elephant in the room? The same way you’d eat one – one bite at a time. Try not to feel overwhelmed about all of the things you have to do to become paperless – just start small, simple. With one process.
Onboarding with DQF is a popular place to start. Tenstreet can take all of your forms digital, offering most DOT-required and tax forms for free. Drivers apply using your IntelliApp (a digital, online application), then fill out driver forms and watch training videos – all from the convenience of their mobile device. You get higher application volumes, shave off days and dollars from your orientation classes, and stay in compliance. Winning.
Request a demo or call us at 877-219-9283 today, and let us show you how Tenstreet’s ATS can help you become paperless, more easily than you ever believed possible.
