If you are in the transportation industry, it is always important to look at opportunities that will allow you to get ahead of the competition and ease up operations as much as possible. After all, nothing beats a company with all gears and engines checked for smoothness and optimal operation. Transportation management software, particularly a web-based one, does just that for logistics and other vital aspects in the transport industry.
Its proper implementation will often have a positive domino effect on the company as a whole. As for what these exact benefits are, they will be explained in greater detail below.
What is a Transportation Management Solutions?
Simply put, transportation management software makes essential activities within the transport business like accounting and bookkeeping and other business operations. Its various functionalities encompass these fundamental activities, making it a single tool that any owner can rely on to fulfill all the needed business activities regularly.
In the past (and arguably still practiced by a lot of transport and trucking company owners in the present), people tend to rely on excel spreadsheets to do all this. This is a woefully outdated and tedious method that is always a burden to do for anyone. This is not at all the case in a TMS.
Ever wanted something more user-friendly that you can use daily? You can expect nothing less from a TMS. The interface of this kind of software is often categorized and separated into sections dedicated to fulfilling these vital activities within the business. This is but one of the many ways in which TMS make everything convenient for the user.
Below are the other reasons:
- Filters and keywords can be applied to immediately sort orders, clients, locations, shipments, fleets, etc., allowing owners to access what they need in literally seconds.
- It usually capitalizes on drag-and-drop technology to make the ordering of shipments according to specific parameters easier.
- All pick-ups and drops can be ordered and modified with only a few clicks. Owners have the power to set location changes in a single click for all drops and pick-ups.
- Every driver can be assigned with his corresponding tractor and trailer. He, in turn, can be assigned to a particular delivery scheduled on a given day just by clicking on his name.
- The owner gains an overview of what shipments need to be delivered ASAP and their schedule, who the specific shipper is for each one, the current status of each shipment, its stops, and other pertinent details in a single screen.
These are but some of the truly helpful ways in which a TMS can serve as a game-changer for any transport business. As for why it is already essential, read further to know why.
Why a TMS is Essentially Indispensable in Today’s Transport Industry
Logistics gone wrong will always be a nightmare for anyone managing a transport company. And more often than not, it arises from lack of coordination, erroneous information, and overwhelming details that can be a herculean challenge to organize. A TMS basically addresses all of these issues, and this is readily apparent in its overall design.
These errors could only be mitigated if the one managing the fleet would pay attention to every shipment that will be conducted for the day. And this can get really hard if one is supervising hundreds of shipments every day. Every shipment’s arrival and departure date and time have to be inputted or, at least, confirmed. And you often have to be mindful of both pick-ups and drops. This has always been the key to any transport business’s success, and that is unlikely to change any time soon.
Would you be willing to do all these in a standard excel spreadsheet every day? Surely not, knowing that these kinds of software exist. Yes, you still have to enter those specific details for every shipment one by one, but they will always be organized and most major actions can be done in a single click. Just imagine the amount of time you can save because of this.
The Proven Benefits of TMS
There is no shortage of perks that you can gain from a TMS, and the following are but some that have been shared by long-time users of this transport software – besides the user convenience advantage that we have already explained above.
- Productivity will be boosted
This is one of the immediate positive results that the implementation of a TMS will bring about. Since you will always be able to perform essential functions like tracking inventory, fleet, and shipments in real-time, the overall productivity of the business will also increase substantially. In turn, errors will be avoided as much as possible and the flow of operations will remain consistent and seamless.
Again, this stems from the sheer organization that this type of software brings to the table. No other modern tool can boast of being able to provide these advantages.
- Web-based means you can easily access your software (and entire business) anytime
As long as you have a ready Internet connection on hand, web-based trucking software will always be made available to you. Any changes and updates you make can be saved in seconds. This is crucial for any owner of a trucking company or other related business, especially if an emergency occurs. Ultimately, hands-on management is the key, and web-based TMS will certainly make this easier for any owner.
- Reduced costs
It is surprising to find out about the expenses incurred by companies simply because their operations lack organization and are prone to mistakes. Freight expenses, in particular, balloon because the proper optimization of the business process and fleet management is not being done. A TMS software, besides giving you all the information you need, also conducts analytics alongside it all, which allows you to immediately pinpoint certain areas that need improving.
- Customer relationship and retention will improve as well
This is arguably a direct result of every other advantage mentioned here and the goal of any transport business. Customer relationship is crucial for any business for continued patronage. Since a TMS provides you with real-time data regarding all the clients you are servicing and their respective shipments, it only opens up the door further for consistent communication between the two of you. A customer that has the utmost attention of the business he is dealing with is always a happy customer.