Transportation Management Software
What is a transportation management system?
When does the question of what a transportation management system becomes relevant?
Lately, we've been getting emails asking, "What is a transportation management system?" Owner-operators and small trucking companies mainly ask for it. And this is not surprising. After all, the question of a transportation management system is faced when systematization and streamlining of the company's main operational processes are required. New, young companies, having worked in the trucking industry for some time, are aware of the need to move the company to a new management level.
What exactly is a transportation management system?
There are many definitions of a transportation management system. But they all boil down to the fact that it is a logistics platform, specialized software that helps the company streamline the main operational processes in providing freight services and is an integral part of the larger supply chain.
We should talk about its benefits to better understand what a transportation management system is. The main advantages of transportation management software are:
- automating the management processes of a trucking company
- reducing operating costs
- reducing paperwork
- increasing the company's income
What are transportation management software benefits?
Driver management
One of the benefits of a transportation management system is the automation of driver management. Drivers are one of the main parts of the trucking business. The ability to automatically track the current status of driver accounts (driver fired, driver on a trip, the driver needs to renew CDL or medical card, etc.) allows you to plan and ensure the company's smooth operation.
Truck and trailer management
Another benefit of implementing the transportation management software is automating truck and trailer control. Trucks and trailers are the backbones of the trucking industry. Efficient truck and trailer management ensures your company's success. Automatic monitoring of the current state of trucks and trailers (on a trip, under repair, needing inspection, needing insurance, etc.) ensures efficient management.
Real-time shipping progress tracking
The ability to track the delivery status in real time is the most apparent benefit of trucking management software. A transportation management system allows you to track where the truck is currently located and choose the best route, taking into account the addresses of pickup/delivery, traffic conditions, and even the fuel cost on the route and sending notifications to the driver about the need for changes in the route, stops, fuel stations, etc. The transportation management system allows you to track the driver's working hours, the number of miles the truck drives, fuel consumption, and all trip expenses.
Customer service improvement
Another benefit of implementing a transportation management system that even customers notice is the ability to automatically notify customers that their delivery has left the origin, the possible time of arrival, and the arrival at the delivery location.
Automation of most routine processes of transport company management
The management of a transport company involves a huge set of routine processes that need to be performed by a team of specialists daily. Automating such routine processes is a benefit of the transportation management software that everyone forgets about, but it is this benefit that brings the greatest value to the company.
Reduce company expenses
Reducing company expenses is the main benefit for top management when choosing a transportation management system. A transportation management software automates the management of drivers and vehicles, loads and trips, payroll and invoices, expenses and income, and paperwork. This reduces the number of things required to ensure the trucking company's operation, reduces the company's administrative costs, increases the efficiency of its work, and, as a result, increases the company's income.
How should you choose a transportation management system?
Choosing a transportation management system is a crucial step that will determine the success and development of your company in the future. Therefore, the choice of TMS must be taken seriously. How do you make the right choice when many different transportation management software is available on the market? To do this, we have prepared a complete guide to choose the best TMS software for carriers.
What should I look for in a transportation management system?
You should ask yourself this question even before you start searching for and choosing a transportation management system. The answer to this question will help you form the technical requirements for the future TMS and a complete list of features that the transportation management system should implement.
What are some of the core features of a transportation management software you need?
There are many transportation management systems, and all these software products have their own feature sets. Sometimes, it can be a daunting task to choose between them. Therefore, you need to make a list of the core features that your company needs. This list will help you quickly select the transportation management software that best suits your company's needs and weed out those TMSs that charge extra money for features your company doesn't need.
The list of the core features of a transportation management system may include, for example:
- Customer management
- Drivers & payroll management
- Trucks & trailers management
- Loads & trips management
- Income & expense management
- Reports
- etc
Which type of transportation management system platform is right for your company?
There are two common types of TMS platforms with their pros and cons:
| Type | Pros | Cons |
| A custom local software solution is designed for your company's needs and hosted on your servers or computers |
|
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| Software as a service hosted on cloud servers or high-speed servers of hosting providers |
|
|
Define the transportation management software goals and benefits you want to achieve
What goals and benefits are you trying to achieve by implementing a transportation management system in your company? The answer to this question will help you in choosing the best TMS.
The goals and benefits of implementing transportation management software can be, for example:
- automating the management processes
- reducing operating costs
- reducing paperwork
- Increasing income
- etc
Define the budget for the implementation and use of the transportation management system
One of the main arguments when choosing a transportation management system is the money you need to spend on implementation and monthly use. After all, there may be a situation when high requirements and goals are set for transportation management software, but there is no budget for this.
Customers should understand that a custom solution for a particular company's needs will require massive investments—first in development, then in support, and, if necessary, in changes. Such a system could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The cost of a SaaS solution will be much lower. The cost of logistics SaaS can range from free to several thousand dollars per month. If you search well, you can find a free SaaS solution that will fit all your requirements and help you achieve all the goals assigned to the transportation management system.
What would be the most effective transportation management software?
What else should you pay attention to when choosing a transportation management system?
Transportation management software should have a simple and intuitive interface. This will facilitate work with the system and reduce the time required for personnel training.
A good transportation management system must be scalable. No one knows how the trucking industry will change tomorrow, but TMS must be able to adapt quickly to new realities.
Transportation management software should be able to implement various integrations with other systems, such as load boards and ELDs.
Transportation management systems must be reliable and secure.
Why is Trucking365.io TMS the best choice?
Trucking365 transportation management system has flexible pricing plans which start from $15 and works as a SaaS platform. This makes Tracking365 the best TMS software for owner operators.
Trucking365 transportation management software has all the features you need to run your company successfully.
The Trucking365.io development team is ready to make changes to TMS's workflow to meet your company's needs, as well as develop and implement integration with any system your company needs for successful work in the shortest possible time.
The Trucking365.io support team is ready to answer all questions and resolve issues that arise when working with TMS quickly.
How much does a transportation management software cost?
The cost of a transportation management system depends on the type of system. There are two common types of TMS:
- a custom system specially created for the needs of a particular company
- special software or SaaS, created to meet the needs of most trucking companies
Both of these types of transportation management software have their advantages and disadvantages. We will not talk about them in detail. However, the cost of these transportation management systems should be that the first type will cost significantly more than the second. It is obvious because a team of developers, managers, and testers will create a transportation management system for a specific customer with particular needs. The cost of such a transportation management system can reach several million dollars, depending on the size of the company and its needs. As for transportation management software of the second type, such a system can cover the needs of 95% of trucking companies and will cost $19 per month or more.
How much can a transportation management system cost your company?
If your company needs a custom transportation management system (the first type), you must collect a list of all system requirements and features the system must implement. Then, find several companies developing transportation management systems and send them all a request for an estimate of the cost of system development, along with your list of requirements and features. The arithmetic average of the values of these estimates will be the possible cost of the first type of TMS for your company.
Suppose SaaS transportation management software (the second type) suits your company. In that case, you will only need to find several products (SaaS, special software) on the Internet that cover all your needs. The arithmetic average of the costs of these products will be the possible cost of the second type of TMS for your company.
How much should a transportation management system cost?
Before looking for answers to questions like how much transportation management software costs or can cost, it is necessary to determine how much a transportation management system should cost. To do this, remember one simple rule: the costs of implementing and using a transportation management system should be less than the monetary equivalent of all the benefits from its implementation.
What is the best transportation management system?
What is the best transportation management system? It is a question owners and managers ask themselves before choosing transportation management software for their trucking company. It would seem that the answer to this question should be obvious. But it's not. The best transportation management system is not number one in the ranking, and it is not the system with the most reviews or your competitors' system. And we will now tell you why.
Why will the best transportation management software for each company be different?
There are many trucking companies, each with its own needs and capabilities. Many transportation management systems implement their own features, costs, development, and support teams. Based on the above, we can conclude that the best transportation management software will fit your company's specific requirements and budget.
How should you choose the best transportation management system?
When you choose the best transportation management system, it is enough to take the following steps:
- determine the list of features your company needs
- determine an acceptable budget
- find a transportation management software that implements the necessary features within a specific budget
- learn about the capabilities of the development team to develop TMS and promptly make the required changes
- learn about the responsiveness of the support team
What is not the best transportation management system?
Naturally, no one will agree to pay for additional features in transportation management software, but your company does not need them. No one will pay for a transportation management system that does not fit within a specific budget. No one will pay for a TMS that was last updated more than a year ago or whose support team answers a question a week later or does not answer at all.