Bulk freight load board Bulkloads.com has enhanced the user experience on its app, providing real-time alerts for loads and messaging options to make it easier for carriers to interact with shippers.
Jared Flinn, operating partner of Bulkloads, told FreightWaves the new notifications are included with membership and are part of recent user-experience improvements to the app, including larger icons to make it easier to read and navigate the screen.
“They can set up alerts to see any [load] posting out of a specific state like California or set up alerts to see when loads are posted out of an origin radius from 10-300 miles,” Flinn explained.
Users can also set up alerts based on their current location, he said. Enabling this functionality eliminates time spent searching the load board for the right load. Bulkloads.com has over 47,000 grain, aggregate and liquid loads on its site.
The addition of messaging in the app complements the load alerts functionality, Flinn noted, allowing closer and more real-time communication options.
“This is one of the reasons we released messaging,” he said. “The carrier now has three options — they can instant message the shipper/broker, they can email or they can call.”
Messaging is a significant time-saver, Flinn said, as many posted loads do not have rates attached.
“The messaging allows the carrier to message the shipper/broker back and forth and negotiate online versus over the phone,” he said.
Each load has a messaging option attached, but carriers can also search for specific shippers or brokers to send a direct message if they prefer. Messaging allows for sending voice recordings and text as well. All messages are stored privately on the app, the company said.
The app now allows for the attachment of documents through an integration with phones’ and tablets’ cameras. Images can also be uploaded through the app, improving the speed at which documents are sent to shippers or brokers.
All the new features are now active in the Bulkloads app, which is available for Android and Apple devices.
