When you think about relationship-building with truckload carriers, you may think it all has to happen in person and face-to-face, but the truth is that the right digital platform can be an invaluable tool in your arsenal when it comes to forming and maintaining carrier relationships. Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity is designed to connect you with owner operators and carriers for the long-term. The same can’t necessarily be said to be true about other capacity sourcing technologies such as load boards. With Smart Capacity, it’s easy for you as a carrier sales team rep or operations team member to target capacity from already-onboarded carriers, book multiple loads in a single communication and offer the value of greater efficiency to key carrier partners.
Check out these seven ways Smart Capacity helps you foster relationships with carriers.
1. Customized Capacity Searches
No matter the size of your brokerage, you have the option to customize how you use the capacity search function in Smart Capacity. You may want to search first for trucks from your core network or for capacity offered by carriers who’ve already run at least one load with your company. The ability to search for trucks from among in-network or already-onboarded carriers often can be a great first step in starting and/or maintaining ongoing business and trust with specific carriers.
2. Easily Identifiable Reloads
Once you have a carrier dispatcher or owner operator on the phone to discuss a specific load, it’s easy to immediately see what backhaul opportunities your company has for the driver/carrier. Booking a backhaul with the owner op/carrier in the same conversation not only is efficient, but it also shows drivers and carriers that you want to see them succeed beyond a single load. Offering reloads to carriers on every load is a great way to build relationships with specific carriers, especially those who you’d like to join your network.
3. Owner Ops/Carriers Can Submit Digital Rate Quotes
A big part of being a good partner to drivers and carriers is being easy to do business with. That starts with the technology that you use to interact with both. When you use Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity in your operations, you can give drivers and carriers the option to submit digital rate quotes on loads to you and the rest of your team via the Trucker Tools driver app and free carrier platform. This is a convenient option that reduces the number of phone calls that carrier dispatchers, owner operators, and you and your team members have to make to book a truck/load.
4. Digital Load Booking Options for Selected Carriers
You also may choose to post specific loads as Book-It-Now® loads to the Smart Capacity platform. Book-It-Now® automates what can be one of the most time-consuming elements of broker/carrier interactions. When you post a Book-It-Now® load to Smart Capacity, you must include your preferred rate. With Book-It-Now® loads, you give carrier dispatchers the ability to book the load digitally through Trucker Tools’ free carrier software platform, which is actively used by more than 195,000 small and mid-sized carriers. Book-It-Now® loads also can be digitally booked by owner operators via Trucker Tools’ free driver app.
5. Reduces Phone Calls to Carriers
Using Smart Capacity in your operations notably reduces the time that you and your teammates spend on the phone calling carriers/owner ops about available capacity and negotiating rates. When you search for a truck in Smart Capacity, you’re shown all of the in-network and out-of-network capacity that’s available for the load. Once you find the right truck for the load, you can send an email message to the owner op/carrier directly through the platform. This reduces phone calls to carriers, which improves your productivity. That can be a change-changer, especially if you work on a commission basis.
6. Increases Carrier Efficiency
Fewer phone calls to carriers and drivers not only improves your own productivity — it also helps owner operators and fleets run more efficiently, which makes you an attractive prospective long-term partner to both. Just like the business you work in, drivers and carriers want to work smarter, not harder. With fewer phone calls coming through thanks to Smart Capacity and Trucker Tools’ free tech for drivers and carriers, owner ops can concentrate instead on driving and making money and carrier dispatchers can focus on booking more loads. Of course, using Book-It-Now® with owner ops and carriers offers an even higher level of efficiency to all parties involved.
7. Gives Carriers 24/7 Access to Your Loads
Let’s face it, truckers and carriers don’t always work solely from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Owner operators especially appreciate the ability to search for and book your loads at times that often fall outside standard business hours. With Smart Capacity, you can provide fleets and owner operators with 24 hour/day and seven day/week access to your loads. They can search for your loads and submit bids digitally any time of day or night through the Trucker Tools driver app or free carrier platform. If you post loads as Book-It-Now® loads, you also give them the power to book your loads at times that are most convenient for them — not just during daytime hours when your office is open.
To learn more about how to build and manage carrier relationships with Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity, read “10 Reasons To Use Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity for Carrier Relationship Management.”
Schedule a free demo of Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity carrier relationship management platform.
