Competition and Procurements: The Wider Benefits of e-Waybills
In 2018, hundreds of oversized transport loads were seized. Just on South-Estonian roads. To some extent, the massive number of infringements are caused by demanding construction site managers, carelessness, and the high risk tolerance of drivers. However, the continuous disregard for state laws reveals a more important issue — lack of transparency in transport. The impact of the problem does not only manifest itself in overstepping seemingly arbitrary transport laws and causing many accidents. In the long run, there exist higher expenses for all taxpayers through our roads deteriorating at a faster rate. Luckily, this unnecessary cost is completely avoidable through making transport documentation more transparent.
The benefits of e-waybill solutions like Waybiller, such as reducing paper cost, raising efficiency, and saving time, are not exclusive to the private sector. Waybiller is also beneficial for different public authorities, because the application helps gather data in real time, which previously has been too difficult or even impossible.
More data — less expenses
The main benefit from e-waybills comes from the transparency they bring. Firstly, using e-waybills gives a more accurate representation of the materials used in a specific road construction site. In the Waybiller application, the material used can be inserted under a construction code, which means that it is possible to get a clear picture of the exact material cost of a specific layer of pavement. Due to this feature, government agencies will be able to plan and budget procurements using more accurate data, which in turn leads to saving taxpayer money and makes roads that much cheaper. Secondly, making e-waybills a standard helps verify if quarries are abiding by their mining agreements. Because the data being gathered by the application reflects how much material is actually carried out of the quarry, state authorities can limit excess exhaustion of natural resources and negative effects of the environment. It is also important to note that all of the things mentioned above can be checked using e-waybills in real time. This is key for solving problems beforehand, not after they have already spiraled out of control.
Why are e-waybills beneficial for the authorities?
When bringing e-waybills to the broader market, a large part of the benefits are also carried down to state supervisory bodies. For example, it is possible for the Police and Border Guard of Estonia to check transport loads without stopping cars at all. This can be done by tying the existing e-police information system Apollo with Waybiller. This in turn would give the police force access to relevant data for them, such as the weight of a shipment. Moreover, the tax authorities benefit as well. In the future, it is possible to view the factual working-hours of drivers and compare them to their reported wages. This method will help gradually tackle the shadow economy and undocumented wages. All of this is possible through multilateral cooperation: the starting points of transport (quarries, mines, warehouses), and destinations (construction sites, ports) depend on the information carried by the e-waybills and plan their actions according to them. In this case, it is a lot more complicated to organize an oversized transport load and work longer than allowed, because it requires overstepping a standardized and convenient system, on which the whole sector is dependent on. Due to better data transparency (or even the mere existence of this data), it is enormously easier to notice legal deviations and the overstepping of boundaries, just by using the system created.
Fair competition for everyone
The benefits of e-waybills extend to the wider transportation market. Transparent transport helps repair the whole sector’s competition. For example, in the forestry sector in Estonia, where e-waybills have been a standard for years, the competition has improved massively. It is easier to check transparent data. In the whole industry, companies that choose to ignore regulations set by authorities lose their competitive advantage. Thanks to this, honest companies have a better chance of securing valuable government contracts, which are immensely important to their revenue stream.
Making it the norm
The forestry sector in Estonia has used e-waybills since 2011. An important push to the standardization of e-waybills was given by the state. The State Forest Management Centre (RMK) started to insist on using e-waybills for their procurements and after that, the e-waybill expanded to the whole timber transport sector. Very probably, the Estonian Road Administration will also start to insist on using e-waybills for their road construction procurements. The beginning has already been done. Many large companies such as Nordecon, Trev-2, and YIT already use the Waybiller application for road construction. Also, e-waybills are used for crop transport by companies like the Farmers Association Kevili. The future, where e-waybills will be used by all types of transport is not so distant anymore.
If you wish to become a pioneer with your company and start using e-waybills, contact the Waybiller team by email at ivar@thorgate.eu or call +372 58081132.
