Glossary

Actual Time of Departure

Definition

When you send something by truck, the Actual Time of Departure, or ATD, is a very important piece of info. ATD tells you the precise moment when the truck leaves the starting point with your stuff on board.

For shipping businesses, tracking the ATD is a must. It's a clear sign of how good (or not so good) their pickup game is

FAQ

ETD is a best guess of when a truck or shipment will leave its starting place or another set place. It can change because of how fast loading or unloading is, the traffic on the road, and even the weather. ATD, however, is the fixed, exact time that the truck or shipment really starts its trip.
Companies use ATD to check how well their pickup services are doing. It helps them see if trucks are leaving on time or are late. By looking at ATD numbers over time, they can find parts of their service that need to get better. They also share this ATD data with customers to give them real-time updates about when pickups happen.
No, you can't guess ATD because it's the exact time a shipment leaves its starting point. But, companies often use ETD to give a rough idea. They look at how long it takes to load a truck, what the weather is like, and how busy the roads are to come up with ETD.

Example or usage in road freight logistics:

Let's say a shipping company uses GPS to watch where its trucks are. When a truck leaves the warehouse or another pickup spot, the driver enters the ATD into a computer system. This ATD info helps the company in many ways: it shows if drivers are doing a good job, helps determine if some routes are faster than others, and helps them see where they can improve things. It also lets them give real-time info to customers about their shipments.

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