Winning and keeping customers is crucial in any business, but especially in logistics and when you work on commission as a freight broker. A great way to differentiate yourself from competing freight brokers and stand out to current and prospective shippers is to embrace real-time technology. Real-time tech helps shippers run their operations with greater efficiency and gives you the power to cover their loads faster. Real-time technology also can incentivize carriers to join and remain in your carrier network.
Check out these three ways that you can get more customers and keep them with real-time technology.
1. Use Real-Time, Digital Load Tracking Technology
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that traditional, manual load tracking can’t keep up with the complexity of today’s supply chain. When supply chains become congested, the limitations of manual check calls are exposed. The major drawback of using check calls to track a load is that check calls rely on the driver being able to answer the call and providing accurate location information. It isn’t a real-time process, as the driver may not answer the call and you may have to wait for a call back to get a location update. In fact, many shippers today won’t let you broker their freight if you rely on check calls to track loads, as they understand that the information isn’t real-time.
Using a real-time load tracking software like Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity provides you with automatic updates on the location of your shippers’ freight every five to 15 minutes. These updates are highly accurate, as they use the GPS tech in the driver’s phone to provide precise location updates. You can view the locations of loads in real-time in the Smart Capacity interface or right in your TMS. Sharing digital load location updates with shippers in real-time helps them make better business and staffing decisions. Providing your customers with real-time digital visibility also allows them to better answer their own customer inquiries and keep their customers up to date on when to expect deliveries of their products.
2. Cover Loads Faster with Digital Freight Matching
There are a lot of brokers out there who are still dialing for diesel, i.e. they source capacity by picking up the phone and calling carriers. There’s nothing wrong with finding carrier capacity manually, but there are more efficient ways to cover your customers’ loads. When using digital freight matching technology like Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity platform, you can search for available capacity in real-time with a few clicks of your computer mouse. Digital freight matching tech also makes it easy for you to find and offer backhauls and future loads to carriers in a single communication.
Shippers notice if you’re able to source capacity faster and often want to partner with freight brokers who see the value of technology. Using digital freight matching in your daily ops signals to your shippers that you care about their business and are willing to go the extra mile when it comes to covering their loads with greater efficiency. Your customers also recognize that digital freight matching tech can save you time and reduce your costs, and they are interested in sharing in those cost-savings.
3. Build a Loyal Capacity Network with Driver- and
Carrier-Friendly Tech
Bringing carriers into your network and keeping them in-network is crucial if you want to succeed as a freight broker. What you may not realize is that the technology that you ask drivers and carriers to use can affect whether or not they run loads for you again in the future. That’s why it’s important to choose technology platforms that are easy for drivers/carriers to use and that provide them with efficiency gains. After all, drivers and carriers can get bogged down by and lose money from inefficient manual telephone calls and emails, too.
When implementing new tech, be sure that it’s carrier friendly and real-time. If the tech is easy to use and eliminates time-consuming phone calls for drivers and carriers, they’re more likely to continue running loads with your company. Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity platform connects freight brokers like you with drivers using the Trucker Tools app and carriers using our carrier software platform — in real-time. Our driver and carrier technology lets drivers and carriers search for loads, book loads, track loads and upload POD/BOL docs once the load is delivered. This technology helps drivers and carriers operate with greater efficiency, while also increasing your own productivity and equipping you to meet your shippers’ needs.
Have you heard about our new awards program? Read “Introducing Trucker Tools’ New Awards Program for Freight Brokers and 3PLs” to learn all about it! Schedule a free demo of Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity.
