In 2013, we added real-time load tracking to the Trucker Tools driver app and launched our broker-facing real-time visibility software platform. Over the ensuing decade, our Software-as-a-Service platform has matured and today hundreds of leading freight brokerages and logistics providers use Trucker Tool’s tracking technology as an essential part of their operations. Of course, the evolving needs of shippers and the consumer market have driven this evolution, moving the industry as a whole away from manual check calls asking, “What’s your ETA?” toward automated freight visibility that allows freight brokers like you to instantly share visibility data with shippers, improving supply chain health and resiliency.
Why the “What’s Your ETA?” Check Call Approach No Longer Works
If you’re thinking that check calls, i.e. picking up the phone and calling the trucker or carrier dispatcher to find out where the load is and when it’ll arrive, is just as good as technology, think again! Check calls take time and time is something you can’t afford to waste in the logistics business. Check calls also rely on the driver/dispatcher providing accurate information, opening up the process to human error and other factors that make it more difficult for you to provide accurate information to your shipper customers. Real-time visibility technology leverages the GPS tech in the driver’s phone to ensure you always know where your shippers’ freight is and when it’ll arrive.
Freight Brokers Use Real-Time, Digital Visibility as a Service Differentiator
In our personal lives as a consumers, we’re used to being able to track an online order closely so that we typically know within a two-hour window when our order will arrive. It’s not surprising that today’s shippers expect that same kind of visibility when they’re moving their goods by truck. When shippers have access to real-time tracking data, they can provide better service to their retailers and distributors. They also can better manage their resources and gain vital supply chain intelligence from real-time tracking data. As a freight broker or 3PL, you can differentiate yourself from your competitors by delivering that real-time digital visibility to your customers.
ELD and App-Based Tracking Take Freight Visibility to New Heights
In the last one to two years, the popularity of ELD-based load tracking has increased considerably. Many drivers and carriers either prefer to track with an ELD or at least want the option of ELD-based freight tracking when transporting a broker load. A combination of ELD and app-based now yields the greatest results, providing on average tracking compliance rates of 90 percent and higher.
“ELD tracking has changed the tracking game in a very positive way,” Kyler Ford, Trucker Tools’ Chief Revenue Officer, said in a recent interview with FreightWaves. “Prior to the ELD mandate, brokers had to rely heavily on check calls and through mobile app tracking with the carriers that hopefully would accept it and use it.”
Don’t miss “2023 Freight Tech Preview: Five Trends To Watch in Logistics.”
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