When time is lost in the supply chain, it impacts your shippers’ revenue. If you can’t easily find a truck to move a shipper’s load, that means the freight is sitting in a warehouse or on a dock longer than it should be, impacting the shipper’s operations and inflating the costs associated with moving the load. One of the best ways to keep your shippers’ costs as low as possible is to maintain a strong and robust carrier network. Of course, building a broad and reliable carrier network takes effort and a commitment to forming relationships with carriers and drivers for the long-term.
In this blog, you’ll learn how strong carrier relationships, driver loyalty programs and the right technology can help you save your shippers time and money and make you a preferred partner.
1. Treat Carriers Like Gold
If you’ve been in business for a while, you know that relationships are the foundation upon which most successful businesses are built. The freight brokers and logistics companies that achieve the highest levels of success in this industry are deeply invested in the carriers with whom they work. These folks go above and beyond to make sure their carriers know how important they are.
For shippers, the key to keeping costs low is to work with freight brokers and 3PLs that maintain strong relationships with carriers and drivers. If you have strong relationships with drivers and carriers, you can meet your customers’ needs on a consistent basis. That may mean that sometimes you might have to pay a little more. Paying a few extra dollars on a single load is worth it if you know that carrier or owner operator will help you out in the future when needed.
2. Embrace Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs like Trucker Tools’ new Driver Loyalty Program incentivize drivers to transact business digitally, encouraging repeat business and long-term relationships between freight brokers like you and drivers/carriers. With Trucker Tools’ Driver Loyalty Program, you can set reward levels for different actions taken within Trucker Tools’ platform, such as successfully booking a Book It Now® load or tracking a load with the Trucker Tools’ app. When the driver/carrier performs the incentivized action, they receive “Trucker Points” that can be redeemed for gift cards.
The benefit of driver loyalty programs like Trucker Tools’ is that you can become a preferred broker by increasing the earnings of the carriers and drivers with whom you work. Loyalty programs ultimately improve carrier retention and make it easier for you to meet you shipper’s needs. By encouraging drivers and carriers to book loads digitally or track loads with the app, you also make your own operations more efficient and use fewer resources searching for and onboarding new drivers and carriers.
3. Use Digital Freight Matching and Book It Now® To Keep
Carriers In-Network
The technology that you use with carriers and drivers directly impacts your ability to build and maintain a network that can meet your customers’ needs. When choosing technology for your operations, opt for software and apps that save time and make life easier for carriers and owner operators. Using technology such as digital freight matching reduces the number of phone calls that carriers and drivers have to field from your team and from other freight brokers/3PLs. Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching platform allows carriers and drivers to view and bid on your loads digitally via the Trucker Tools app or carrier platform.
You also can encourage carriers and owner operators to stay in your network by offering in-app and on-line load booking. When you post your loads as Book It Now® loads to Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching platform, drivers can book the load immediately through Trucker Tools’ driver app and carriers can book it through our free carrier platform. The convenience of digital load booking and fewer phones calls from brokers can entice carriers to keep working with you and help you build out a loyal carrier network that will be there when your customers need it.
Don’t miss “Five Reasons To Implement Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity Before Your Next TMS Update.”
