In an industry where new technology solutions seem to be emerging on a near daily basis, the way brokers evaluate products and choose partners is changing. FreightWaves and Trucker Tools recently hosted a webinar to discuss the realities that come along with rapid change.
The webinar, “Where’s My Technology? The Digital Brokerage Evolution and Strategies for Success,” featured Trucker Tools Founder and CEO Prasad Gollapalli and Tom Curee, vice president of strategic development at Kingsgate Logistics.
Trucker Tools SmartCapacity platform is intended to help brokers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) connect with their carriers and grow that network for covering freight, as well as provide increased visibility. One of the reasons the company is able to deliver on this goal is because of the popularity of the Trucker Tools mobile app.
Over 600,000 drivers have downloaded the app, translating to over 125,000 small carriers and owner-operators, according to Gollapalli. Over 90 percent of those on the Trucker Tools app are small carriers and owner-operators.
Kingsgate utilizes SmartCapacity to get loads covered, track freight throughout the delivery process and help safeguard against carriers from dropping out of its network and becoming “one-load wonders.”
When Curee decided to partner with Trucker Tools, the process looked quite a bit different than it would have 10 or 15 years ago.
Brokers used to spend six months to a year testing a technology product, then implement it with the assumption that it would stay the same for a long time. Now, the process is faster and the final product is expected to be far more flexible, according to Curee.
“I get calls every single week about some new technology that is going to fix all my problems, and previously, the evaluation process was solely around the tech,” Curee said. “That has changed for us. Iit is not solely about the product you see today but the product it is going to be a year from today.”
Curee gets to know the team behind the product before jumping on ship now, allowing him to ensure his company can influence new iterations of the product and have any unforeseen issues fixed.
“You really need to evaluate the team you’re signing up with. That’s a big change for me in terms of how we’re evaluating and buying technology in the space,” he said. “When we hear someone who is passionate about development and passionate about fixing user problems, that is usually something that fits well within our model as an organization.”
The speed at which Curee buys and implements new technology is also changing.
“There’s this urgency behind the tech now,” Curee said. “A lot of us in this space understand that if we don’t make some decisions, someone else is going to make them before us, and it is going to be harder to play catch-up.”
When technology offerings are changing every day, it pays to partner with a company that is committed to evolving with times and welcomes client feedback.