The decisions you make now impact not only how your business fares today, but also how it will fare in the future. In this blog series entitled “Level Up Your Trucking Business,” you’ll learn how you can use Trucker Tools’ free technology to reduce your expenses, maximize your drive time and create a profitable, self-sustaining owner operator trucking business. This second blog in the series explores why you should consider using Trucker Tools’ real-time technology to negotiate rates and book loads with your favorite brokers.
Why Efficiency Matters
One of the best and easiest ways to maximize your profit margins — no matter how big or small your business — is to focus on greater efficiency. When you’re an owner operator, that means reducing the amount of time you spend on non-driving activities. It’s pretty simple: the less time you spend on non-driving activities, the more time you have for driving and generating revenue. One big productivity-killer for owner ops is spending too much time on rate negotiations. Trading multiple emails or phone calls with brokers on rate negotiations takes time, time that you literally can’t afford.
Negotiate Rates Faster via Trucker Tools’ Free Driver App
Instead of searching for loads on load boards and calling/emailing brokers to negotiate rates, consider searching for loads with Trucker Tools’ free driver app. You can search for loads with your favorite brokers 24 hours/day, seven days/week. The best part? When you find a load that looks good, you can submit a rate quote to the broker directly through the driver app. It only takes seconds to do and you never have to pick up the phone. The broker gets your quote instantly and can respond to you quickly.
Book Loads Instantly with Book-It-Now®
If you see a broker load in the Trucker Tools driver app that is listed as a Book-It-Now® load, you can book that load instantly right in the app. Book-It-Now® is integrated with the broker’s software, which means when you book the load in the app, the transaction is automatically recorded in the broker’s transportation management system. Right after booking a Book-It-Now® load, you’ll receive an email confirmation confirming the booking.
Using Book-It-Now® to book loads can be a huge time saver because you can say “so long” to load boards, phone calls, and back and forth emails with brokers. You don’t need to call the broker to confirm that the load is available because the information on the load is pulled directly from the broker’s software. Trucker Tools’ loads and Book-It-Now® load bookings are real-time, which means you’re never looking at or trying to book loads that have already been taken by someone else.
Future Load, Reload Suggestions Delivered to Your Inbox
Every time you book a load with Book-It-Now®, you’ll receive a confirmation email that includes suggestions for future loads. The suggestions you receive are based on the load you just booked and your load booking history with Trucker Tools. These future load suggestions make it easy for you to find and book your next load in advance before you ever even deliver the load you just booked. These suggestions make it much easier for you to identify reload opportunities and to plan ahead. They also help you avoid deadheading and boost your productivity even more.
Use Book-It-Now® To Build Strong, Self-Sustaining Relationships with Brokers
Right now, the demand for trucks is high in many markets, but as anyone who’s been in this business for any length of time will tell you, rates trend up and down and usually eventually level out. That’s why it’s important to have a long-term strategy for building and sustaining relationships with your favorite brokers, no matter if rates are up or down. In addition to saving you time (and therefore money), Book-It-Now® saves brokers time, as well, and helps them increase their productivity. Your willingness to book loads through the Trucker Tools driver app shows brokers that you value their time and are an ideal partner for the future.
Are you frustrated with load boards? Read Eliminate the Noise of Load Boards with Trucker Tools’ Digital Freight Matching and Book-It-Now®.
To download Trucker Tools’ free app for truckers, visit https://www.truckertools.com/carriers/.
