Compliance on the river is one of many challenges for inland marine operators. One issue that everyone struggles with is the EPA’s VGP (Vessel General Permit) regulations. Penalties for non-compliance are steep. Many fleeting and towing companies comply with the VGP requirements by way of a very time consuming, paper-driven process which includes a lot forms as well as tracking data in various Excel spreadsheets. In addition to the time required to fill out the forms, managing the forms, consolidating data for annual reports, and managing information for the required record retention period is complicated.
BargeOps is bringing a new approach to help streamline the work required to comply with VGP regulations. Imagine your crew always having access to the most current forms, eliminating the problem of out-of-date documents. Even better, BargeOps displays forms within the application, so there’s no need to switch over to another application to enter data.
Speaking of entering data, BargeOps forms are context driven, so the data that is already known by the system is entered into the form which saves a great deal of time for the crew. For example, the VGP Barge Inspection Form gets pre-populated with the vessel name, fleet location, river mile, barge number, and barge owner. Since this is a high frequency form for VGP compliance, it saves time to have all of this information entered so the crew can work through the checklist of questions and note corrective actions as needed.
For companies using BargeOps, when an activity, such as taking care and custody of a barge, requires completion of a regulatory form, the system automatically notifies the crew of the task. The required forms appear in the workflow for the crew to complete when they are ready. The forms are designed to be touch-screen ready, making it easy to select options and complete the form. If needed, the crew can save the form to finish later. Once complete, the crewmember can digitally sign the form and submit for review and approval right from the Onboard app.
VGP forms will be available in early 2017. For more information, click here to Contact Us!
