- Implements fully operational, advanced digital carrier engagement platform, completely automates load booking and confirmation process.
- Reduces time, cost to “cover” a load from as much as 2 hours to less than 15 minutes.
- Expands Kingsgate’s access to a capacity network of over 725,000 truckers on the industry-leading Trucker Tools Mobile Driver App.
- Addresses driver demands for increased automation, quality loads and reloads, “frictionless” broker-carrier transactions.
- Marks milestone as the industry’s first automated booking platform to enter full commercial operation; complements broker’s TMS with “plug and play” integration
- Other brokers going live in coming weeks
RESTON, VA – OCTOBER 10, 2019 – Trucker Tools LLC, which provides shipment visibility, carrier capacity management and predictive freight-matching solutions for the transportation industry, announced today that Kingsgate Logistics Services has completed integration and gone live with Trucker Tools “Book-it-Now,” a new feature of the company’s cloud-based software platform that fully automates the process of booking truckload shipments with carriers.
Kingsgate is among the first freight brokers to start full operation with Trucker Tools Book-it-Now, a carrier collaboration tool that automates the process by which a trucker or carrier selects, secures and confirms acceptance of the broker’s offered load.
It’s the industry’s first automated load booking tool to enter full commercial production, available to brokers, 3PLs and their carrier communities. Book-it-Now connects with the broker’s TMS as a “plug and play” integration and does not require significant process change to leverage the platform’s automation benefits, which reduce the variable cost of covering a load to zero.
West Chester, Ohio-based Kingsgate is a leading non-asset-based logistics and transportation services provider. With over 30 years of experience, the company provides high-value, performance-based freight brokerage and integrated multi-modal capacity solutions, with over 10,000 vetted carrier-partners moving thousands of shipments a month meeting stringent customer service commitments.
The implementation represents a significant digital technology milestone for Kingsgate, notes Tom Curee, vice president, strategic development, who added that small carriers of 10 trucks or less, as well as single-truck owner-operators, are the backbone of Kingsgate’s capacity network.
“Truckers are demanding more automation and apps with features that save them time and let them engage with many brokers in a standardized, common process,” notes Curee. “Book-it-Now greatly simplifies and accelerates the process for how a trucker accepts a load – literally taking it down to one click of a button. All the information is there, accurate and in real-time, for the trucker to make a decision. Once accepted, the shipment is booked, a rate confirmation is automatically generated, and all other shipment details are transmitted to the driver’s smartphone. Then he clicks on the pickup location and off he goes.”
Curee says Kingsgate sees two immediate benefits from the implementation:
- Time savings and accuracy. The automated Book-it-Now process relieves both the broker and the driver of tedious, repetitive phone calls, texts and emails typically used to communicate load information and manage the booking transaction. A mostly manual process – finding and booking a truck – which used to take up to 2 hours is condensed down to less than 15 minutes.
- Expanded access to capacity. Book-it-Now is an integrated feature of the smart-phone-based Trucker Tools Mobile Driver App, which has been downloaded by over 725,000 independent truckload operators. Kingsgate gains access to a much wider pool of additional truckload capacity as well as more flexibility in finding and securing trucks for customers.
Book-it-Now is a fully automated process. Using this feature, a driver or dispatcher reviews (on their smartphone or tablet) a list of participating brokers’ available loads (with pricing) that match available capacity and are in that fleet’s or driver’s preferred lanes. Each entry has a “Book-it-Now” button.
Once the driver/dispatcher clicks on Book-it-Now, the load is booked and recorded in the broker’s TMS, a rate confirmation is issued to the driver/dispatcher, and the load is scheduled for pickup. A broker’s intervention is needed only if the driver and broker want additional conversation.
The driver can still call the broker – and the broker can call the driver – should there be questions or if an exception arises, but Book-it-Now employs a digital platform and workflow that automates the principal steps of what was formerly a highly-manual and time-consuming business transaction.
Curee emphasized that the Trucker Tools Mobile Driver App, and its focus on the driver experience, was a critical differentiator. “Truckers are suffering app overload; they don’t want to be downloading multiple apps from different vendors or brokers that only do one or two things,” he says. “They want an all-in-one app that gives them control and convenience. The Trucker Tools app has a long history with drivers. It’s known and accepted, a lifestyle app that supports drivers and is tuned to their needs.”
In addition to Book-it-Now, the Trucker Tools mobile driver app provides users with 16 of the most sought-after features drivers want for managing their business while on the road – including automated, GPS-enabled real-time tracking.
Ultimately, Book-it-Now and other features of the Trucker Tools freight-matching and capacity management platform help brokers and carriers cover more loads more efficiently and accurately, notes Prasad Gollapalli, founder and chief executive of Trucker Tools. “Brokers become more productive. They gain more time to not only book more loads in less time but can respond faster when issues arise, or unique loads need special attention.”
Just as importantly, Gollapalli says, is that the trucker gains back valuable time. “The driver isn’t getting calls from the broker at all hours of the day. The app ‘learns’ the trucker’s preferences and presents loads and reloads aligned with their specific profile and where they want to go next. They can leverage one digital tool to book in an automated way with many brokers, benefiting from a streamlined process that’s simple, fast and accurate.”
Kingsgate’s Curee adds that with Book-it-Now removing wasteful, manual activity, his team can put more focus on improving support for the driver community as a preferred business partner, and for shippers to efficiently meet their needs for quality, reliable capacity and superior service. “And importantly, it enables us to quickly adopt advanced technology that’s consistent with our culture and makes us faster, better and more efficient at what we do for our customers,” he concludes.
About Kingsgate Logistics Services, LLC
Kingsgate Logistics Services, LLC is a family-owned, third-party logistics company founded in October 1986 on three fairly basic principles: hard-work, exemplary service and the highest levels of integrity. Kingsgate provides total supply-chain solutions to a broad range of customers throughout North America. For more information about Kingsgate Logistics Services, LLC, visit www.kingsgatelogistics.com or call (513) 874-7447.
About Trucker Tools LLC
Trucker Tools, LLC, based in Reston, Va., is the leading provider of trip planning, shipment visibility and freight matching solutions for the transportation industry. Its ground-breaking Smart Capacity platform uses accurate, real-time data and powerful algorithms to optimally match freight by predicting when and where capacity will become available, days in advance. The company’s popular driver smartphone app, launched in 2013, has been downloaded by over 800,000 owner-operators and small-fleet truckers to access load information, planning and booking services conveniently while on the road. Smart Capacity automated shipment tracking is a robust feature in the app that connects drivers with carriers and freight brokers, providing real-time location updates, eliminating manual check calls and increasing carrier load-tracking compliance. Visit Trucker Tools at www.truckertools.com or contact us directly at [email protected]
Media Contacts:
Gary Frantz, Trucker Tools, (925) 594-1434, [email protected]
Rian Beckham, Kingsgate Logistics, (513) 682-9152, [email protected]
