A transportation management system, when used to its full potential, is one of the most powerful tools in the supply chain. It acts as a holistic system for a logistics company to plan, execute and analyze all aspects of its logistics and business functions. While the TMS market continues to grow overall, adoption by the underserved carrier segment is still lagging.
“Unfortunately, the trucking segment has largely been ignored in terms of technological solutions and advancements. We don’t have big TMS players that specialize in trucking,” Farhan Rafique, co-founder and chief operating officer of LoadStop, said.
Small carriers have especially been slow to adopt. According to a 2018 survey conducted by InMotion Global Inc., approximately 91% of trucking companies with 20 trucks or more use a TMS, while only 33% of companies with 10 trucks or fewer use one.
In recent years technological innovations have driven improvements in the TMS industry with the introduction of cloud-based TMS platforms. Yet, if a carrier uses a TMS, many are still relying on systems that are outdated, inefficient and failing to keep up with the rapidly evolving needs of its users.
Carriers using older systems are likely to experience limited flexibility, high upfront costs, long onboarding time, and technology and support issues. One of the most critical areas where older systems fail is the lack of real-time visibility, which has become vital to modern supply chain processes.
On a company level, this can mean clogged processes, frustrated customers and falling revenue. On a larger industry level, outdated processes among many small carriers can create more complications for the supply chain.
“The bitter reality is that with the rise of e-commerce, the sustainability challenges, tougher regulations, driver shortage and huge disparity in technology implementation, the U.S. trucking industry will soon become the weak link not just in local but global supply chains. Things need to be changed at the very grassroots level,” Andrew McKay, VP product, of LoadStop said.
The need for carrier efficiency is at the forefront of LoadStop’s TMS design. With LoadStop — a cloud-based and carrier-focused platform — carriers of all sizes can grow revenue, streamline internal workflows, optimize fleet management and dispatching, and reduce time waste through process automation.
“We involved trucking industry experts in the product development process so that we have a much deeper understanding of the issues and a design solution entirely from a trucking standpoint,” Rafique said.
Cargo Solution Express (CSE), with a fleet of over a thousand trucks, was searching for a technology partner that was pushing for digital innovation in the rapidly evolving trucking industry.
They found that in LoadStop and made the switch to digitalization. Now, CSE is consistently innovating and enhancing its system with LoadStop, exploring new dynamic tools for load visibility, communication with drivers and automating routine daily tasks to eliminate human error.
Since adding LoadStop’s TMS into its operations, the company has enjoyed greater transparency and simplified accounting, which has increased its bottom line. Driver and customer satisfaction have risen too.
“LoadStop is the most cost-efficient, one-stop TMS solution for transportation companies. It has made our process more efficient and transparent by reducing our operating costs and increasing profitability. I would recommend LoadStop to all trucking companies looking for quality and growing their customer base,” Steve Shirazi, senior VP of operations & finance of CSE, said.
Switching TMS providers may be daunting for some due to the seemingly high cost of time and money, as well as the difficulty in integrating their old systems. However, modern cloud-based TMS platforms like LoadStop do not require high upfront capital and are easy to install, use and customize.
Some of LoadStop’s most powerful features include:
- Dispatch management module. Routine dispatching tasks are automated with LoadStop’s intuitive system, which allows for users to create multiple dispatches within seconds and optimize fleet planning and end-to-end trip management.
- Load tracking. With ELD integration, LoadStop gives users the power to track and trace loads, share updates with customers, track split loads and provide estimated arrival times to customers.
- Analytics and business reporting. Using business intelligence, users can access insights for fuel utilization and a company overview. They can also gain access to reports for profit and loss at the truck, customer, driver and terminal levels.
LoadStop simplifies the process by providing each new account with an assigned client service specialist to help staff in their TMS transition, as well as builds them a project timeline to ensure timely implementation.
With more than 50 integration partners, LoadStop makes the transition easy, especially for carriers already using the services of powerhouse companies such as TruckStop.com, Motive, Google and GeoTab.
“We are challenging the no-tech status quo with flexible, cost-effective and value-added solutions. Our vision is to make it an inclusive platform and level the playing field,” Rafique said.
Visit LoadStop’s website to learn more about its TMS solution.