Life as a trucker means constantly balancing competing demands for your attention and time. As broker, 3PL and shipper partners have become more insistent on tracking freight loads more closely, the pressure you feel as an owner-operator or carrier to use freight tracking technologies in everyday operations has continually ratcheted up.
Most broker, shipper and 3PL partners want you to adopt a proprietary freight tracking software or app whose sole purpose is tracking. These single-feature, tracking-only tools usually cannot be used with other brokers/3PLs/shippers. The result? You are faced with installing a new freight tracking app for each and every load. You’re left dealing with a whole suite of software products that do exactly the same thing, but for different brokers/3PLs/shippers.
Each proprietary, single-feature tracking app has a different user interface and may require its own username and password. This means you are constantly adapting to new technologies, which can be time-consuming and hurt efficiency. You’re likely already using multiple apps and technologies during the day to monitor traffic and weather, find truck stops and weigh scales, check fuel prices and find loads. Adding a new app to your smartphone every time you haul a load can create a sense of app overload, fragmenting your attention and decreasing drive time.
Making Your Case: Start the Conversation with Trucker Tools’ Precise Load Tracking
Success solves most problems. That is why your conversations with broker/3PL/shipper partners about adopting technology that works for you can start with load tracking. If a technology delivers continuous, accurate load tracking to your partners and provides benefits for you, the carrier, in your daily operations, everybody wins. The load tracking provided by Trucker Tools’ driver app is precise, accurate and continuous. Trucker Tools’ load tracking uses the GPS technology native to your smartphone to ensure location accuracy.
One of the benefits of the visibility tool included in Trucker Tools’ driver app is that load tracking is transparent: you always know when you’re being tracked, by whom and for which load. Every time location information is being shared, you’ll receive a smartphone notification that lists the associated load and the name of the broker/3PL/shipper that is receiving the tracking info. You also have the power to pause or stop tracking directly in the Trucker Tools driver app. With proprietary tracking-only apps, ELD data-sharing and other load tracking technologies, you often don’t know how and when your location data is being shared and for how long.
Trucker Tools’ All-in-One Driver App Is Built for Truckers, Carriers
Trucker Tools’ free mobile driver app aggregates data from multiple sources so that instead of juggling seven to eight different apps throughout the course of the day, you can concentrate on getting to the next destination. Trucker Tools’ driver app is an all-in-one app that provides you with information on truck stops, fuel prices, nearby Walmart stores, weigh scales, traffic, weather, parking, repair shops, truck washes and more in a single, easy-to-use interface. The driver app also includes powerful load matching, invoicing, detention tracking, and route and fuel optimizer tools, as well as a message board.
All of these features and tools are contained in one app, along with a highly-accurate load tracking tool that your shipper/broker/3PL partners will value. Because the Trucker Tools’ driver app was created for truckers, it can be used with multiple brokers, 3PL and shipper partners. The driver app is not a one-and-done technology that only can be used with just one partner or load. It’s a beneficial tool that you can use again and again on an everyday basis.
If you own a small trucking company, you may not have the resources or technology systems that can integrate with freight tracking systems used by brokers/3PLs/shippers. If you attempt to adopt all of the different tracking technologies used by your partners, it’s a major efficiency drain. Your staff members will spend most of their days contending with these technologies instead of doing the work they’re meant to do.
Instead of being on the receiving end of technology, small trucking companies can take a proactive approach and suggest technology like Trucker Tools’ driver app to their partners. Multi-functional, high-performing solutions like Trucker Tools’ driver app benefit all parties — from your truckers and dispatchers to brokers and 3PLs.
Trucker Tools’ Driver App a Win for Truckers and Carriers
Achieving success involves all segments of the transportation industry reaching across the aisle and taking a collaborative approach to solving problems. Using technology that is multi-functional and solves multiple problems for you and your broker/3PL/shipper partners can go a long way in bridging the proverbial gap.
Instead of feeling stuck with tracking technology that may hinder productivity, it’s worth it for you to have an honest conversation with your shipper, broker, and 3PL partners. Suggesting that they adopt technology that you value and already feel comfortable using can be a difference-maker in your relationships with your partners and for the efficiency of your business.
If you want to learn more about the power of Trucker Tools’ load tracking, read How Trucker Tools’ Visibility Solution Increases Efficiency, Strengthens Relationships for Shippers, Carriers and Brokers. To download Trucker Tools’ free mobile driver app, visit https://www.truckertools.com/carriers-toolkit/.
