As an owner operator, fleet owner or someone working in a trucking business, your technology options are plentiful. Trucking technology can reduce downtime, increase profit margins and help you grow your business, no matter what the size. In this blog, we examine five of the most impactful technologies available in the trucking industry today. All five of these digital tools are focused on saving you time and digitizing what are often time-intensive manual activities within your operations. From automating load tracking and simplifying rate confirmations to providing you with optimized routes and locations of the cheapest fuel, these technologies can help you maximize your opportunities to earn and grow.
1. A Real-Time Load Tracking App That You Can Use With Multiple Brokers
If you’ve been in the trucking industry for any length of time, you’ve no doubt already encountered app-based load tracking. One thing you may not know is that you can use the same load tracking app with multiple brokers instead of downloading or having your drivers download a new tracking app with every new broker load they haul. Because Trucker Tools’ free driver app integrates with the most popular transportation management systems used by freight brokers and 3PLs, you can use just one app for load tracking. One app for tracking means less time spent downloading and learning to use new apps every week and more time for driving and earning.
2. App and Web-Based Digital Load Booking
Imagine this: you do a quick search for a load on your smart phone or desktop computer. When you search, you can specify the lane, dates and type of load you’re looking for. Once you find the right load for the truck, you book the load immediately through the app or website — no follow up or phone calls to the broker/3PL required because the appointment is automatically scheduled with the broker. This is what Trucker Tools’ Book-It-Now® offers you. When a broker posts a load as a Book-It-Now® load, you can book it immediately through the Trucker Tools app or free carrier software platform. The broker’s preferred rate is listed on the Book-It-Now® load, which gives you the choice to either book the load immediately at the listed rate or to send a lower rate quote to the broker through the app/carrier platform. Book-It-Now® saves you time, plain and simple. You must request permission from brokers/3PLs to see their loads in Trucker Tools’ driver app and/or carrier platform. Trucker Tools does not set broker rates and does not charge any per load transaction fees.
3. All-in-One Driver App
Whether you’re a small fleet with five trucks, an independent owner op or a larger fleet, an all-in-on driver app is a must. All-in-one driver apps like Trucker Tools’ mobile app provide you/your drivers with real-time information on the location of weigh scales, rest areas, parking, truck stops, grocery stores, truck washes and much more. The app also can be used to track and book broker loads, as previously noted. When you or your drivers use one app instead of eight or nine throughout the day, it saves time and reduces the technology burden that you/your drivers face. Using one driver app instead of multiple apps also can reduce the amount of data used by your smart phone and reduce stress. Instead of flipping between a dozen different apps, drivers can stay in one app and get all the information they need with a few taps on their phones.
4. Freight Forecasting
One of the biggest mistakes that new owner operators and fleet owners often make is not calculating the total profit or loss of a load before agreeing to haul it. New owner ops in particular can often end up losing money on a load if the backhaul coming out of the area is low-paying. Consult free freight forecasts like Trucker Tools’ “Where’s the Freight?” to avoid markets where demand is likely to be low and prioritize loads to and from those markets that are projected to see high demand and rates. “Where’s the Freight?” tells you where demand and rates will be high and low over the next week, which gives you time to get your truck(s) out of cold markets and into hot markets where you can maximize your revenue.
5. ELD Integration
In trucking, there is no one size that fits all. Some folks love app-based load tracking because it means fewer check calls from freight brokers. Others may prefer to track loads for brokers and shippers with their ELD instead. To give you and your drivers choice in the matter, we’ve integrated our Smart Capacity broker software platform with 74 of the most popular ELD manufacturers/providers in trucking. What that means for you as a driver/owner op is that if a broker asks you to track their load with the Trucker Tools app and you can’t or prefer not to, you can use your ELD instead. If you’re a fleet owner or oversee drivers in a trucking business, you can give your drivers the option to track loads with their ELDs instead of the app.
If you’re looking to grow your revenue in 2022, be sure to read Carriers and Owner Ops: Boost Efficiency and Profits with Trucker Tools’ Free Tech.
To download Trucker Tools’ free driver app, visit https://www.truckertools.com/carriers/.
To start using Trucker Tools’ free carrier software platform, visit https://bookaload.truckertools.com/.
