High-Tech Tools for a Low-Tech Business

There are few industries that have remained quite as unchanged over the years as trucking has. For all the online retail technology that creates many of the loads that the trucks are hauling, it is still possible to do the daily work of trucking in a way that’s very similar to what was done 50 years ago.

With that said, the industry can definitely streamline with technology, even though the process of getting items from Point A to Point B can still be decidedly low-tech. The most competitive trucking firms today are those that have embraced technology to help them manage the tasks that go beyond simply fueling up and hitting the road.

One of the biggest technological advances affecting trucking is, as in every other business, the advent of computer technology for financial management. What once took hours of poring over papers and through files is now streamlined and efficient, handled with a keyboard and a mouse.

This is an incredible advantage for a trucking business, whose employees may be submitting invoice information from all over the country. Organizing the various bills and expenses of drivers traveling thousands of miles a day is a tall order, and it is better managed through a software-based system. This reduces errors, increases speed, and cuts down on expenses like paper and postage.

All the invoices created by all the software must be paid to keep the business afloat, and few industries have less flexibility than trucking firms when it comes to getting paid. After all, their drivers have their earnings coming, and they’ve logged those hours by burning a lot of diesel fuel. And that’s just the beginning of the expenses.

Getting paid in a timely fashion is essential, and TBS Factoring has made a business of getting that done for trucking companies. A retailer doesn’t typically own its own trucks. Instead, it hires a shipper or contracts with a trucking company, and the same is true for them when it comes to functions that are outside their normal scope of work.

The trucking company can be far more efficient and effective in getting paid by using an outside source for billing. This is an especially helpful option for smaller trucking companies that don’t have a dedicated accounts payable department. With that said, though, all trucking companies do well to utilize factoring because it saves money and streamlines billing.

In factoring, the trucking company turns invoices over to the factoring company, which immediately pays them (less the fee for its service). The factoring company then pursues the actual billing to the customer, taking all that burden away from the trucking company and letting its staff focus on delivering goods.

One of the other critical functions for a trucking company is fleet management. In addition to the many types of software that can keep managers current on oil changes, government inspections, tire rotations, and so forth, there are also systems for tracking the trucks. These systems let managers remotely track where trucks are, how long they’ve been in motion (or stationary), vehicle speeds, and much more.

While some drivers see these systems as an undue intrusion on their work, others see them as a benefit. There is no question about why a load was late in arriving, and drivers like having an impartial and unblinking witness to their performance on the road in case of fraudulent complaints.

Some things about trucking haven’t changed, and they never will. It will always involve moving goods across the country in the most efficient and most timely way possible. Beyond that, though, it is an industry that is evolving as rapidly as most others do, with new technology emerging daily to help reduce costs, increase safety, and organize daily activities in the most efficient way possible.

Judy lees is a super-connector with AYC Web Solutions who helps businesses find their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. She frequently writes about the latest advancements in digital marketing and focuses her efforts on developing customized blogger outreach plans depending on the industry and competition.

Founder of Technology News Extra.

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