If you’re a broker looking at available load tracking solutions, there are some key questions that you should be asking to ensure that your interests are protected and that the visibility vendor is the right match for your business. Here we take a look at some red flags that could indicate potential conflicts of interest with the vendor.
1. Is the visibility vendor marketing its freight tracking solution to shippers?
Some visibility software vendors are marketing their products to brokers and shippers because they hope to realize more profit by eventually cutting brokers out of the supply chain and dealing with shippers directly. Obviously, that is not a good thing if you’re a broker! Therefore, it’s worth asking the visibility software vendor if they also sell their solutions directly to your shippers or on your behalf to your shippers. It can tell you volumes about where the vendor hopes to go in the future.
2. What is the vendor’s product road map? Is the visibility provider working to develop its own digital freight brokerage?
If you’re considering purchasing a freight tracking solution for use in your brokerage, we recommend asking the visibility vendor about its product road map. Does the company have plans to launch its own digital freight brokerage in the future? If so, you may need to rethink partnering and sharing your data with that vendor who ultimately is going to become a competitor. If the vendor already has purchased a brokerage or has a brokerage license, the writing is on the wall that the vendor is already in competition with your brokerage.
3. How is the visibility software company structured? Is it backed by venture capital or is it a private equity-funded business?
If you’re considering a visibility solution whose parent company is backed by venture capital or private equity, you should pause and assess whether or not you want to share your carrier, shipper, load and other data with the vendor. Caution is recommended because many VC and private equity-backed visibility vendors hope to disrupt the freight brokerage market and ultimately displace brokers from the supply chain. On the other hand, if you have a visibility vendor that is privately owned and stays focused on you as the customer and your needs, the risks are minimal.
4. Look for confidentiality in agreements. Is the vendor protecting your data?
One final factor to consider when evaluating partnerships with visibility vendors is confidentiality. It’s important to know if the vendor is protecting your data. Take a good look at the confidentiality agreements of the vendor and if you have doubts or are worried about your data, get the answers straight from the vendor.
At Trucker Tools, we don’t sell to the shipper market because our focus is on brokers and carrier markets. Our goal is to be the number one solution for brokers and carriers. We don’t get distracted and remain dedicated to bringing small carriers to the table for brokers. Trucker Tools is privately owned and we plan to stay that way so that we’re not forced into other areas of focus that aren’t in our wheelhouse.
The product road map for Trucker Tools is transparent to our customers, as well. In fact, we believe that brokers and carriers have a vital role to play in creating our road map because they help us decide what to build next and how to improve our solutions. We also take confidentiality seriously and protect your data.
Trucker Tools was built on the very real belief that brokers bring a lot of value to the table. As we see it, empowering brokers is a much better strategy than trying to disrupt them because brokers have a major role to play in the supply chain. We think that when we empower brokers, together we can build better solutions, realize higher profits and bring more value to the table.
If you have questions or concerns about Trucker Tools’ road map, data confidentiality or who we sell to, we’re more than happy to chat. Call 703-955-3560 or email [email protected] for more information or to schedule a demo of the Trucker Tools visibility solution.
