How to use software to improve your trucking company in 2020

As technology continues to ingrain itself into our everyday lives, it is imperative to leverage its capabilities to grow your company’s profitability. Leveraging certain software solutions to improve efficiency in the workplace, along with organization, can become the foundation of running your business smoothly, leading to significant growth. 

The trucking industry is no stranger to utilizing new technology to improve productivity, as it has long been known for leveraging tech to improve daily duties. When C.B. radios became commonplace in the industry, they were often used to help truckers on the road. By announcing weather conditions and traffic jams, truckers helped each other avoid potentially detrimental situations. 

While implementing new technologies might seem difficult at the start, it will ultimately pay dividends down the road. It doesn’t matter whether your trucking company’s fleet is over 100 or just 10 trucks, as companies of all sizes can benefit from correctly utilizing software solutions.

Today we’ll be taking a closer look at two software solutions that can help improve your trucking company from top to bottom. Whether your issues lie in assisting dispatchers to organize loads, finding loads, organizing equipment, or helping drivers avoid violations, the following software solutions can provide a variety of benefits for you and your company. 

Safety and compliance solutions 

In the trucking industry, safety is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Without taking the proper precautions to make sure your fleet is well-trained and well-equipped to be safe on the road, you’ll likely find yourself with low CSA scores and a ton of violations.

One software solution that has helped circumvent some safety and compliance issues is an electronic logging device. 

While the ELD mandate was met with nearly universal disapproval by the trucking industry, it has already proved to be effective in terms of lowering hours of service infractions. 

Upon its initial passage, the FMCSA reported that violations dropped from 1.19 percent in December 2017 to 0.83 percent in January 2018. Up to the final December 2019 deadline, the percentage of violations hovered around 0.53 percent, with the latest numbers showing that violations were up to 0.68 percent in January 2020.

Even with the slight increase, however, violations are down significantly from where they started in December 2017. As companies begin to readjust to the final mandate, and if the trend is to be believed, then violations should only continue to fall throughout 2020. 

In addition to hours of service compliance, a good ELD compliance solution should also have the capability to integrate with devices that increase safety procedures.

Among those are the ability to use tracking and cameras. ELD solutions such as GPSTab leverage the use of tracking and cameras to increase safety among fleets of any size. 

Nowadays, tracking your assets is essential. The fact is, trucking companies can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by mitigating cargo theft. In 2018 alone, the average worth of trailers lost was $142,342 with the total loss between the U.S. and Canada being $13.9 million.

Additionally, considering a 17% uptick in cargo theft from 2018 to 2019, investing in safety solutions such as asset trackers can prove to be consequential for trucking companies moving forward. 

Asset trackers do not just come in the form of bulky boxes, however, as tail light tracker technology can also be leveraged. Hidden in plain sight, tail light trackers are the most effective trackers on the market. 

In addition to tracking, cameras can also be leveraged to improve fleet-wide safety.

Generally speaking, cameras can not only help repel potential thieves but also help find them if they manage to be successful. With the added security that comes with utilizing cameras, fleets can maximize profits by avoiding expensive losses caused by theft.

Additionally, placing cameras on trucks has also proved to be an X-factor when it comes to fleet safety. With strategically-placed cameras, carriers can instantly review incidents that involve any of their assets. 

Whether an incident resulted in significant damage to a truck or load, or even in injury to a driver, cameras are useful for protecting fleets from potential liabilities. 

Overall, cameras can help save thousands every year, which is valuable when you consider that the cost of an average accident for trucking companies is $91,000.

And with 363,000 crashes and a total cost of $134 billion in 2017, being able to use cameras in order to avoid hefty costs can be well worth it for trucking companies of any size. 

Organizational solutions

Keeping your business organized can be difficult, especially when you consider the multiple factors that go into running a trucking operation.

As previously mentioned, leveraging technologies to make sure your company is working efficiently should be a priority, and software that automates daily processes does just that.

For trucking companies specifically, this comes in the form of a Transportation Management Software, which allows you to keep up with every aspect of your company. 

As a business owner in the trucking industry, not only do you have to worry about daily office duties such as payroll, HR, recruitment, and personnel, but you also have to manage your trucks, trailers, loads, drivers, safety and compliance, and other crucial equipment and services you may provide. 

It can all be a headache to keep up with, but that’s where a TMS system can facilitate the process. Used efficiently, a TMS system, such as UTECH TMS, will help store necessary documents and other information such as driver’s licenses, payment calculations, reports, and settlements, among many others.

A TMS system will also allow you to keep track of information from customers and vendors, facilitating the process of making money.

Additionally, one can not underestimate the importance of managing information and documents for dispatchers, drivers, and the loads that they’re helping deliver. With a TMS system, not only can you store crucial documents and tracking information, but you can also keep information on all the loads you’re carrying, have carried, or are planning to carry.

The system’s load management integration is an enormous boost for companies that manage a sizable collection of trucks and drivers. With the ability to keep track of and effectively manage full and partial loads, you can merge multiple loads and payments with ease.

Of course, a good TMS doesn’t just rely on its own capabilities, but should also be able to adapt to the needs of your business. That’s why TMS solutions such as UTECH TMS allow businesses to integrate their preferred systems. 

UTECH TMS, specifically, can be integrated with Quickbooks, load boards such as DAT, factoring solutions, among many others. By integrating your favorite applications and systems with a TMS, you can further improve your business management. 

Needless to say, this all-in-one system, once implemented, will become a crucial part of running your business, as it ultimately facilitates the entire process of business management for trucking companies. 

Gone are the days of looking through multiple storage boxes or filing cabinets for an old invoice, as it can now all be stored digitally and become easily accessible. 

Running an organized operation, in the long run, will help a fleet of any size thrive. Being able to manage every aspect of your business from A to Z, will alleviate many of the pressures that come from your daily duties. 

So, what are your overall thoughts on using software to improve your company? What software solutions do you use? Let us know in the comments or on social media!

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