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Why the gatehouse book is not enough
A paper entry book works well until someone asks a question that cuts across it. How many times did this carrier come to us last quarter? Which vehicle was standing at warehouse three at the time? Did the driver who damaged the gate have a valid induction? The answers are in the book; you just have to find them, which takes half a day and still ends in uncertainty.
The second problem is quieter: the book does not tell you who has not left yet. A vehicle that came in on Tuesday and is still there on Thursday catches nobody’s eye, because everyone sees only their own shift.
Registering an entry at the gate
The gate operator works in TraxSystem on a single screen and can use it without a mouse: Enter moves to the next field, F2 saves, F4 clears the form. Vehicle and driver details are suggested from the history, so a regular transport (the same carrier, the same driver, the same route) is entered in a dozen or so seconds.
Whether the deployment takes hold depends on how fast registration is. A system that adds a minute to every vehicle takes half an hour out of a shift with thirty entries, and at peak times people start working around it.
Which fields are visible and which are required is set separately: one way for a raw material delivery, another for a service visit, another for waste collection. This is governed by the entry type, which guides the vehicle along its whole route through the site. It decides which document scans are required, whether weighing is needed, how long the dock needs to prepare and what the warehouse will see.
Visit states and time-on-site control
Every visit goes through the same states in turn: booked, unconfirmed, present and closed. The transitions happen manually or automatically, once the plate has been recognised at the gate.
Dwell time is counted automatically. Once the set threshold is exceeded, the system closes the visit and requires a reason. That way a vehicle forgotten in the log does not stay there forever, and overstays leave a trace that comes in handy in conversations with the carrier.
On entry and exit, TraxSystem attaches photos from the gate cameras to the visit, including the plate recognition cameras. When a dispute arises over the time of entry, the trailer or damage to the vehicle, the photo sits in the log next to the visit details, and how long it is kept is set in the data retention rules.
Permissions for registration, the barrier and the gates
In TraxSystem, registering an entry, opening the barrier and access to all gates are three separate permissions. An operator can therefore handle registration without being able to raise the barrier, and staff at one gate do not see the traffic at the others. Cancelling has separate permissions for booked, present and closed vehicles.
This split matters wherever the gate is run by an outside company. In logistics parks, where tenants handle their own traffic in the same system instance, it is a prerequisite.
Entry control and managing vehicle traffic on site
A vehicle entry control system is the first link in managing vehicle traffic on site. The log at the gate tells you who came in and when. Delivery booking adds when and at which dock the vehicle was due, and on-site traffic shows where the vehicle is standing and how fast it drives around the site. Together they make up what logistics calls a yard management system (YMS).
The gate operator’s screen, visitor cards and the key register in turn make up the electronic gatehouse, where security and reception work from the same log.
What vehicle entry control does not do
Vehicle entry control does not plan the delivery schedule: time slots and docks belong to delivery booking, and only the entry itself is created in the log. Nor does it handle weighing: it links weighbridge tickets, but the weight itself is handled by the weighbridge module.
The entry log does not replace access control for people. These are two independent logs, including in permissions, because a vehicle on site and a person on site are separate questions with separate data.
TraxSystem does not automatically stop a vehicle covered by a ban. A site ban is shown to the operator as a warning, and a person makes the decision, because an automatic block would stop an ambulance and penalise a typo in a registration number.
Manually switching a vehicle to ‘present’ bypasses the check on permissions and induction validity. It is a deliberate workaround for exceptional situations, recorded in the audit trail so that it can be found later.
Questions about vehicle entry control
Does a vehicle entry control system need cameras and barriers?
No. Without hardware the operator registers entries by hand, and all the logs, reports and dwell time work in the same way. Hardware adds automation: recognising the plate and opening the gate without anyone stepping in.
How long does it take to enter one vehicle?
A dozen or so seconds for a regular transport, because the details are suggested from the history and the operator confirms them from the keyboard. A new carrier with a new driver means filling in the full form.
Can we start with one gate?
Yes, and that is how it usually starts, with more gates added later. Extending the scope requires a new licence to be generated, so the next gate has to be built into the implementation schedule in good time.
Who can see driver details?
Only people with the appropriate visibility scope. The scope has two dimensions (target sites and entry types) and also applies in reports and in Excel exports. More about permissions and personal data.
Related
Yard management systemElectronic gatehouseNumber plate recognitionDelivery bookingAccess control for peopleReports
Further reading: How many people are on site? · Registering an entry without a mouse · Controlling vehicle dwell time on site · Where to start at a manufacturing plant