Time is money in the trucking business, especially for owner-operators and trucking companies. It’s pretty simple: when you reduce the time you spend on manual tasks in your trucking business, you gain more time for moving freight, finding the next load and making more money.
Earlier this year, we added a powerful new digital load booking feature to the Trucker Tools free driver app called Book-It-Now. Book-It-Now reduces the time that you would otherwise spend making multiple phone calls to broker and 3PL partners to confirm load details, negotiate rates, confirm bookings and look for reloads. Using Book-It-Now in your trucking business automates manual tasks and helps you increase your efficiency, which can quickly translate into more load volume.
Check out these three tips for using Book-It-Now to increase profitability for your trucking business.
Simplify the Rate Negotiation Process for Broker/3PL Loads
When a yellow BOOK-IT-NOW button is included at the bottom right-hand side of a load listing in our driver app, that indicates that the load that can be booked directly from the driver app in a matter of seconds. Book-It-Now loads list the broker/3PL’s rate in the yellow box. If you want to accept the load at the listed rate, you simply tap on the yellow Book-It-Now button to book the load.
If you want to negotiate the rate, tap on the thumbs down arrow to submit an alternative rate quote directly to the broker/3PL via the Trucker Tools driver app. Submitting rate quotes and accepting loads directly in the driver app replaces time-consuming manual phone calls to broker and 3PL partners to negotiate rates.
Reduce the Time You Spend Booking and Confirming Broker Loads
Finalizing a load can be time-consuming when you have to make multiple phone calls to a broker or logistics provider to confirm pickup and delivery, load and rate details for every load that you haul. When you book loads using Book-It-Now, you significantly reduce the time you spend on load booking.
Once you tap the yellow button to book a load using Book-It-Now, the load booking is automatically sent to the broker/3PL and recorded in their transportation management system. You (and your carrier dispatcher) also automatically receive a confirmation email when you book a load using Book-It-Now. Book-It-Now allows you to streamline the process for booking loads and automates manual tasks for your trucking business.
Automate Reloads and Receive Future Load Suggestions
The value of Book-It-Now goes beyond just a single load. Suggestions for future available loads-for-tender are included in the Book-It-Now confirmation emails that you automatically receive. These suggestions are based on historical data, your proximity to the load you’ve just booked and the destination of the current load. The future available loads that are included in each Book-It-Now confirmation email are ranked in order, based on your preferences and load booking history.
Book-It-Now’s suggested future loads help you reduce deadheading and the time you spend looking for loads and reloads. With Book-It-Now’s future load suggestions, you can find and secure the next load or reload before you even finish with your current load. These suggestions help you plan ahead so that you keep your truck(s) constantly moving and making money.
For step-by-step directions on how to use Book-It-Now in your daily trucking operations, read Trucker Tools Driver App Tip: Book-It-Now.
Download Trucker Tools’ free driver app, including Book-It-Now.
