Running a trucking business is complicated. Juggling money, routes, invoices, pre-trip inspections, and HOS, managing a trucking business isn’t about driving a load. That’s the easy part. The business costs and data chaos have to be managed – and efficient trucking software is the solution to the problems that plague independent owner operators.
Not sure where the wasted time is hiding? Start by checking how many times you enter the same number, in this look at efficient trucking software for owner-operators.
What Is Trucking Software?
Trucking software is a business system that manages a carrier’s loads, dispatch, invoicing, expenses, maintenance records, and fuel-tax reporting in one place. For an owner-operator or small fleet, it replaces the spreadsheets, paper folders, and re-keyed numbers that make a trucking business hard to run — and expensive to run badly.
Here’s the deal with trucking software. There are several great options out there. Pricy? You betcha. Trucking software was originally designed for big trucking companies. Imagine trying to run a logistics company that bills over $1 billion per year without computers? I can’t wrap my mind around that.
Creating an accounting system for trucking companies wasn’t like building a family checkbook software. The industry has too many…. let’s call them quirks, thanks to the government… that trucking companies have to pay attention to. It’s not just IFTA and IRP taxes. LTL trucking has its own set of complex billing issues, since it usually pays per mile.
Efficient trucking software has to handle complicated transactions AND more – like dispatch routing, maintenance records, and scheduling, and organize data. And that’s the core of what any business manager needs to have confidence in their trucking company.
What Does Trucking Software Actually Do?
Trucking software does four core jobs for a small carrier: it builds invoices from rate confirmation and dispatch details, tracks trip and maintenance expenses, produces the business reports that matter (cost per mile, revenue per trip), and keeps records where they can be pulled up fast during an inspection or an audit.
As GPS became available, trucking routing may have been the second use (right after how to get to the closest bathroom for mothers of toddlers.) It became apparent that routing software could provide important data to the billing software. Then tracking maintenance expenses led to tracking trip expenses.
The key is obivous, once you think about it.
Invoices need
- rate con details (shipper, delivery details, billing address, payment amount)
- dispatch details
- expenses (reimbursements, surcharges, etc.)
- accessorial charges.
When the invoices lack the documentation or have incorrect information, they don’t get paid. Getting paid quickly resolves the stress of cash flow problems and opens opportunities for growth.
All of those details can go into the accounting software, but the same numbers are necessary for business reports, such as cost per mile or revenue per trip. By reusing data instead of having it re-entered, the trucking company reduces overhead expenses, speeds up critical reporting, and lowers the risk of frustrating errors.
Isn’t that the point of software? To crunch the numbers?
It’s not just the numbers. It’s the data.
During the development of TruckingOffice’s trucking management software, building a system to track maintenance work and records was a critical part of the plan. Tracking maintenance wasn’t just about expenses, but keeping records for inspections, scheduling future service, and tracking payments – insurance and loans.
Trying to compute monthly costs such as insurance and loans against a payment system based on miles is complicated. Not knowing their cost per mile leads many truckers to take loads they can’t afford to haul. Not having easy access to maintenance records can put a trucker off the road during an inspection.
What Does Trucking Software Cost for an Owner-Operator?
Trucking software pricing splits along fleet size. Systems built for large carriers carry monthly fees priced for companies billing thousands of loads. An owner-operator or small fleet isn’t billing at that volume, so those fees can’t be justified — which is why lower-cost software built for owner-operators does the same core work at a price that fits the business.
Disorganization has put more truckers off the road than the DOT ever did. Efficient trucking software has to defeat the chaotic nature of all those numbers. When an efficient trucking software organizes a trucking company’s numbers and data, managing the business is far easier.
But the price?
For an independent trucker, paying those big monthly fees may be out of the question. But then, independent owner-operators aren’t tracking thousands of loads every day. Even LTL and hot shots don’t bill dozens of loads per week. There’s no justification for the cost.
Which is why TruckingOffice PRO is such a good program for those owner-operators. Whether it’s long-distance OTR or regional trucking, TruckingOffice PRO handles the numbers. Organizes the data. Keeps it all together for easy access. Designed for owner-operators and small fleet trucking businesses, TruckingOffice PRO is a tool that conquers the chaos of disorganized data. Combined with the TruckingOffice ELD, the tools an independent owner-operator needs are available at the prices they can afford. (And the integration of the ELD with TruckingOffice PRO is an added bonus when IFTA and IRP come around!)
Trucking Software FAQ
What is trucking software?
Trucking software is a business system that manages a carrier’s loads, dispatch, invoicing, expenses, maintenance records, and fuel-tax reporting in one place. It was originally built for large carriers, but the same core work — organizing the numbers and the data — is exactly what an owner-operator needs to run a trucking business with confidence.
Do owner-operators need trucking software, or is accounting software enough?
General accounting software isn’t built for trucking. Carriers have to handle IFTA and IRP taxes, LTL billing that pays per mile, dispatch routing, maintenance records, and service scheduling. Trucking software handles those transactions and organizes the data behind them, which a general-purpose accounting program does not do.
What does a trucking invoice need in order to get paid?
An invoice needs the rate confirmation details (shipper, delivery details, billing address, payment amount), the dispatch details, expenses such as reimbursements and surcharges, and any accessorial charges. When an invoice is missing documentation or carries incorrect information, it doesn’t get paid — and cash flow problems follow.
Why does trucking software for large carriers cost so much more?
Trucking software was originally designed for big trucking companies handling enormous load volume, and it is priced for that scale. An independent owner-operator isn’t tracking thousands of loads a day — even LTL and hot shot operations don’t bill dozens of loads per week — so those big monthly fees can’t be justified.
How does trucking software help with IFTA and IRP?
Trucking software reuses the trip, mileage, and expense data already captured for dispatch and invoicing instead of forcing you to re-enter it at filing time. When an ELD is integrated with the trucking software, as the TruckingOffice ELD is with TruckingOffice PRO, the data needed when IFTA and IRP come around is already in the system.
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