Tech in Trucking
It’s hard to understate the ways that technology has changed the trucking industry in the past 25 years. Today, it’s almost impossible to imagine what trucking would be without the use of the internet, GPS, or Bluetooth technology. Take IFTA, for example. Once, filing IFTA took people off the road for a day every quarter to hopefully figure out the taxes due for fuel. Today, filing IFTA can be done in less than a minute with trucking management software like TruckingOffice PRO. Tech in trucking is strong and only getting stronger.
But that’s not the end of the technology changes to the industry. Trucking software has changed the trucking industry.
1. Dispatching and Routing
Keeping an atlas around for backup is smart. When you can’t get internet access and you need to figure out where you are and where you’re going, the tool you need is a map. But no one wants to go back to using maps exclusively. GPS and routing programs like PC*Miler have become invaluable tools from dispatch to delivery.
There’s no reason that a dispatch can’t be the first step in discovering routes for delivery. With an effective trucking software program, the moment that the pick up and delivery locations are put into a computer, a routing can be completed.
2. Trucker Stats
And once the dispatch is created and a route set up, there are so many other ways that the data can be used. IFTA and IRP are the obvious ones. But Trucker Stats – the tools a smart trucker or fleet manager uses to determine profit, revenue, and expenses for a truck, a trip, or even a day – can also show an owner of a single truck or a fleet how well the business is doing.
Once miles are figured, other maintenance tasks can also be tracked. We don’t look at our brakes based on dates but on mileage.
People might complain that trucking is now all about the numbers (what isn’t?) but who wants to go back to taking hours to complete a tax form every three months and worrying about doing it wrong?
Trucker stats tell the story of your trucking business. When you use them, you’ll know how to run your trucking business for success.
Allen Campbell, founder of TruckingOffice trucking software
3. BOL and Invoice Management
It wasn’t so long ago that a trucker would make a delivery and get a signed BOL from the shipping crew after the load was unloaded. Then that BOL had to be sent to the shipper via USPS along with an invoice as proof of delivery. Failure to send that signed document could mean months of delays in paid invoices, if they ever were paid.
With the rise of cameras in smartphones, that delay is completely eliminated. A picture of the signed BOL was attached to an electronic invoice and suddenly, truckers got paid much faster. With the development of trucking management software that could produce an electronic BOL, capture a signature, and send the invoice while the delivery was still in process has changed the entire shipping industry.
Find the Right Trucking Technology for YourTrucking Business
Whether you’re using Google, Bing, or ChatGPT, when you try to find a suitable trucking management software for a small trucking business, the first choices that come up are for the big companies. The transportation and logistics companies with thousands of trucks, maybe even planes, trains, and automobiles to make their deliveries.
Of course they do. They pay the search engines for that slot. But that doesn’t make their product right for the owner-operator, the fleet builder, or the small fleet manager. Those software packages have been designed for the mega fleets – companies with more than 100 trucks.
Allen Campbell, the TruckingOffice founder started as a small trucking business owner. He’d grown his trucking business to 5 trucks when managing the fleet became almost too much for one man to handle. That’s why TruckingOffice PRO was developed. To meet the needs of the owner-operator or small fleet manager.
Small Trucking Businesses Need the Right Trucking Software
Allen knew about the software packages for trucking companies. But he couldn’t afford their prices. He didn’t need all the bells and whistles that a big corporation expected in their software products. He needed a program that did very specific things:
- Managed invoices and accounting
- Calculate IFTA.
- Tracked maintenance records and scheduling
- Created dispatches and routings
- Paid drivers.
Owner-operators can’t spend the money the way the big logistics companies can. But they deserved a trucking management software package that worked for them.
Running a trucking business is complicated. Keeping the right people in your business is tough now. That’s why the right trucking business software package helps keep your trucks on the road and money in your bank account. The investment in your business will pay off! We’ve heard from truckers who have told us that TruckingOffice pays for itself by getting the invoices out as soon as the delivery is done, instead of waiting until the end of the month to go home to do the bills. Getting paid promptly – instead of depending on factoring services – is how we make money!
Tech In Trucking Moves Forward
We’re not saying that TruckingOffice PRO hasn’t grown over time. As we talked with truckers and fleet managers, we’ve learned what owner-operators want. What small fleet builders need. And TruckingOffice has grown to meet the growing demand for tech in trucking.
- IRP calculations
- Profit and Loss Statements
- Business Reports
- Trucker Stats.
It’s those Trucker Stats that we see the biggest bang for the trucking management software package. Do you know how much it costs to drive your rig a mile? Do you know how much you need to get for a load to break even, much less make a profit?
When we started, it was all about invoicing. We stand behind that. Invoicing in the trucking industry is way more complicated than a general accounting software can manage.
But today, owner-operators and small fleet builders are competing head to head with the big guys. We want you to have the tools you need to build the trucking business you want.
Trucking Technology in the 21st Century
In 2000, did we predict that IFTA could be done in seconds? That dispatching and routing could be done at the touch of a button? That the ELD would become a reality for truckers? Probably not. Twenty-five years ago, truckers were still using paper log books and maybe still had more than one license plate on their rig.
We’re a quarter of the way into the 21st century. We need to act like it.
If you’re a small business owner, you need a software to keep you in the race with your competitors.
That’s why we want to offer you a free trial of TruckingOffice PRO. You can discover how much easier it is to run a small trucking business with one or with 10 drivers.
Sign up today for the best trucking software that your trucking business deserves.
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