Owner operators and small fleets running 10 trucks or fewer make up the lion’s share of truckload capacity and since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest increase in capacity has occurred within the small carrier segment. Despite the outsized role that they play in the transportation industry, it’s been relatively difficult until recently for freight brokers like you to access and use the hidden capacity that owner operators and small carriers can provide. In this blog, we’ll outline how Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity platform can help you tap into these hidden capacity sources, engage with owner operators and small carriers, and hopefully bring them into your network for the long-haul.
Trucker Tools: Connecting Freight Brokers with Owner Operators and Small and Mid-Sized Carriers
There are three different components that make up Trucker Tools’ global platform. The first is the free driver app, which has been downloaded more than 1.6 million times and is the number one downloaded app in the transportation industry. The second is Trucker Tools’ free software platform for carriers that is actively used by approximately 190,000 small and mid-sized carriers. The third component is Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity for brokers, which includes digital freight matching and real-time load tracking capabilities. Smart Capacity facilitates real-time data sharing between freight brokers like you and the carriers and owner operators that use Trucker Tools’ app and carrier platform. Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity aggregates the capacity provided by the owner operators and small to mid-sized carriers in Trucker Tools’ network, providing you with a digital gateway to their valuable capacity.
How Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity Works
As a freight broker using Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity, you can search for and locate specific types of capacity in certain lanes and on specific dates quickly. You have the option to search for capacity in the general market or within your own customized list of preferred or in-network carriers. Once you find the right truck for the load, you have the option to either call the carrier directly to negotiate the rate or you can send the carrier an email inquiry through the platform. Smart Capacity also includes predictive load matching technology that allows you to search for, locate and book truck capacity in the future.
With Smart Capacity, you also are able to make your loads digitally available to owner operators and carriers. You can choose to make loads accessible to the owner operators and carriers in your network via the Trucker Tools app and free carrier platform or to all of the owner ops and carriers using Trucker Tools’ technology. When an owner operator or carrier sees one of your loads in the app or carrier platform, they’re able to send a digital rate quote to you through the app/carrier platform, which is a time-saver for you and for them. If you post your loads as Book It Now® loads, owner ops and carriers can book your loads immediately right in the app/carrier platform. When they do book one of your Book It Now® loads, it’s automatically scheduled in your TMS.
Meet Owner Operators and Small Carriers Where They Are
According to the company’s VP of Operations Ben Schuchart, Schneider currently works with approximately 40,000 active carriers, 90 percent of which are carriers with fewer than 10 trucks. As Schuchart noted during FreightWaves’ most recent Small Fleet & Owner Operator Summit, Schneider relies heavily upon the capacity provided by these one-truck owner operators and smaller carriers to meet its customers’ needs. Schneider has been using Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity to make it easy for small fleets and owner operators to engage with and build relationships with Schneider.
“The strategy that we’ve been working on with Trucker Tools is to meet small carriers and owner operators where they are at, to make it easy for them,” said Schuchart. “Trucker Tools’ app aggregates freight volume and puts it in the app for the carrier to not only pick Schneider’s freight, but also to pick other brokers’ freight in case we don’t have a load that fits their needs. You can do the digital buy with Book It Now® and know it’s a real load with the rate right there.”
If you’re interested in growing your profit margins, be sure to read “Say Goodbye to Carrier Cold Calls with Digital Freight Matching.”
Schedule a free demo of Trucker Tools’ Smart Capacity.
