Nov 16, 2022

One-stop-shop: How a fledgling small fleet found organization, efficiency with TMS

Published on Overdrive (overdriveonline.com) on November 10, 2022.

Matt Cole – November 10, 2022 – Dorian Acosta Sr. started Shipping Teleporters Trucking Company as a family business in late 2020, after spending about a decade driving for other trucking companies.

In May of 2021, the company got authority, and Senior turned the company over to his son, Dorian Acosta Jr., who had been handling paperwork and some other duties in the back office. Acosta Sr. still works for the Middletown, Connecticut-based company managing maintenance on their three trucks and four trailers, along with other duties around the business.

“My dad, he’s my partner — we’re right there neck-and-neck,” Acosta Jr. said. “He definitely introduced me into the industry. He had the primary trucking background.”

When Acosta Jr. took over as CEO, it was a “baptism by fire,” he said, as he started handling the booking of loads, accounting, driver management and more. “I had no experience in the logistics industry until last year,” he said.

The company hauls a variety of freight, mostly working the spot market and primarily sticking to the tri-state area of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and surrounding states. The company’s three trucks are a 2012 Freightliner Cascadia daycab, a 2011 Volvo VNL and a 2012 Kenworth T700. While the company owns a flatbed and walking floor trailer, the two dry vans butter the bread of the business, moving dry goods such as sugar, bottled water and more.

Like many small fleet owners, Acosta Jr. had cobbled together a working system for back-office management that hinged in part on the QuickBooks accounting software.

“I used QuickBooks for accounting purposes, and they also have an employee time-tracking side of their offerings where drivers can clock in and out to track their time,” he said. “Whenever I was dispatching a driver, I would include what time I needed them. I’d include in the comments section their truck and trailer number, where they have to go, the load numbers, everything.”

He acknowledged that people with more experience in the industry “obviously would have known to sign up for some sort of access” to transportation management system (TMS) software, but he was “just learning as we went, dispatching drivers and putting information into the comment section” of the QuickBooks timesheet.

“We made do, but we got to a really stressful point where, in April [2022] we ended up researching” TMS software to help the business run more smoothly, he said. After trial runs with a number of providers, Acosta decided to go with Trucker Path Command, which had just launched in March. Trucker Path, of course, has long offered an app geared toward operators that offers navigation, truck stop information, weigh station information, truck parking information and more, leaning on users to provide the in-app community with useful updates about specific locations.

“Just the way everything was, the ease and functionality, being able to log in, dispatch a driver, provide them all the information, and they can upload the documents” made the decision easy for Acosta, who said he’s always valued a “one-stop-shop” approach, whether in business or as a consumer.

Shipping Teleporters has used the DAT load board since its inception, but since choosing Trucker Path Command as its TMS software, Acosta has started to also rely on Trucker Path’s own TruckLoads board — access to it is included in Command’s monthly fee. He’s also found great value in the system’s document management and scanning capabilities, through which drivers scan and upload paperwork, receipts and anything else that’s needed in the office.

Rather than having to physically get the paperwork out of his trucks every day, or having his drivers text sometimes poor-quality images of the paperwork, Acosta and his operators now have access to intuitive tools for the purpose of sharing documents, stored for easy access all in one place.

“Before everything was digitized, I was heading down to my truck lot to get paperwork for the drivers, putting proofs of delivery in there for them to get signed,” Acosta said. “Every single day after their load assignments, I would pick up paperwork from their trucks.”

Now, he said, the drivers upload the paperwork for him to create invoices within the system, and with its integration with his QuickBooks, he’s able to automatically send invoices either direct to customers or to the factoring company he uses, Factoring Express.

When using the load board and negotiating with brokers, Acosta said another valuable tool is a rate calculator that allows him to input all the relevant information to see what he needs to make on a load for it to meet his profit expectations.

Command has also been helpful for his drivers, he added. Once he books a load through the software, he can dispatch his drivers by sending the load directly to their phones, and the drivers can use the Trucker Path app’s routing, or Acosta can route the drivers through the app himself to make their jobs easier.

I can pull up points of interest — weigh stations, places to eat and park, fuel stations” — to help drivers find the best deal on fuel and more, he said.

With crowdsourced fuel pricing information from the more than 1 million driver users of the Trucker Path app, managers using Command can send “the route that has the perfect fuel optimization to fuel up, tell them when and where,” said Tom Wulf, senior vice president of sales and strategic partnerships for Trucker Path.

While the company's primary focus is dry van freight, Acosta keeps the fleet's options open with a flatbed trailer, shown here hooked to the company's 2012 Freightliner Cascadia, and a walking floor trailer.

With future growth in mind, Acosta believes Command will be an invaluable tool as he looks to grow his fleet, integrating in one system a variety of management tools — from finding and booking a load to dispatching the driver and sending the driver route information, having the fleet’s Motive ELDs integrated into Trucker Path to track hours of service and location information for customers that want load updates, the document-management functions already described… The list goes on.

Financial benefits are already apparent, he believes. The company grossed $106,000 from its launch in May of 2021 through the end of the year with two trucks (the third was purchased last December). This year so far, it’s pulled in $275,000 in revenue, on pace to pass $330,000 by the end of the year.

“It manages the rest of your operation,” Wulf said of Command. “It is a complete, robust system, and it can scale. If you’re a small fleet or owner-operator and you start growing, which is the goal in many cases, you don’t have to switch — it can scale right with you.”

Wulf added that the price point, given the combination of features, “is designed to make this affordable to even the playing field” for owner-operators and small fleets.

Acosta agreed, saying that just having a subscription to multiple load boards prior to purchasing Trucker Path Command was more expensive than the monthly subscription.

A Command subscription starts at $99 a month, which includes one Operator (manager) license and two Diamond-level Trucker Path driver app subscriptions, which are $29.99 a month if purchased by a driver. An additional Operator seat adds $50 to the monthly cost, and additional driver seats cost an extra $30. Discounts are also available once you surpass 10 drivers.

“For everything that [Trucker Path] offers, I can’t believe how affordable the software is,” Acosta said.

Sep 07, 2022

Trucker Path Solutions Earn Platinum and Gold Awards for Excellence PHOENIX – <a href= "https://truckerpath.com/">Trucker Path</a> has received four 2022 TITAN Business Awards from <a href= "https://iaaawards.org/">International Awards Associate (IAA)</a>, acknowledging its achievements in several categories and industry segments, according to a news release. For the 2022 TITAN Business Awards, Trucker Path was named: <ul> <li>Platinum Winner for the Trucker Path Driver App in the category of Products & Services, Logistics </li> <li>Gold Winner for the Trucker Path Driver App in the category of Products & Services, Transportation </li> <li>Gold Winner for Trucker Path COMMAND in the category of Business Technology Solutions, Operation Management Solution </li> <li>Gold Winner for Trucker Path COMMAND in the category of Business Technology Solutions, Supply Chain Management Solution </li> </ul> Trucker Path was chosen for recognition from among more than 1,000 nominated entries from more than 55 countries, the news release stated. Award winners were selected by 27 jurors from 15 countries. The competition used a blind judging process, under which jurors assess an entry entirely on its individual merits, without being compared side-by-side with other technologies. “It is very gratifying to be acknowledged for our achievements with these four 2022 TITAN Business Awards,” Chris Oliver, CMO at Trucker Path, said. “This recognition for excellence validates how the Trucker Path app and our COMMAND Operations & Driver Relationship (ODR) platform provide drivers, and small and mid-size fleets with the tools and services they need to succeed.” The Trucker Path app provides real-truck mapping and navigation to over 1 million drivers in North America. Trucker Path COMMAND, launched in March 2022, is a full-scale, advanced transportation management system that fully integrates with the Trucker Path app, providing operational efficiencies and unparalleled synchronization between the back-office and drivers. “The TITAN Business Awards’ primary goal is to acknowledge the achievements of entrepreneurs and organizations globally,” according to the news release. “The competition does not differentiate between small or big players in the market, and honors excellence impartially on the level playing field they have created. Only those who qualify can become honorary TITANs.” The competition was organized and hosted by the International Awards Associate and opened submissions to entrepreneurs, small and medium businesses and large organizations alike. The chance to participate was offered equally to all available industries in the market, and it did not discriminate between private or public, and for-profit or non-profit entities. “Despite this being the second season for this competitive year, we received a staggering number of entries, all of which demonstrated remarkable qualities of excellence,” Thomas Brandt, spokesperson of IAA, said. “It is particularly motivating to see so many parties still actively engaging in excellent practices in their businesses. It really does come through clearly from their submissions.”

Nov 01, 2022

Should owner-operators enlist a dispatch service or stick with load boards? The popular image of the owner-operator as a modern-day range rider, free and self-reliant, doesn’t always jibe with the idea of using a dispatch service. It’s a fair point. Load boards enable truckers to do-it-yourself dispatch pretty easily. There’s another side, though. Dispatch services free owner-operators to haul freight while sparing them from much of the business of trucking. There are a lot of considerations in the dispatch service versus load board debate. The following is an objective tally of the pros and cons of a load board-only strategy versus the dispatch-service strategy. We at Trucker Path think we can toggle the debate pretty fairly as we offer both a <a href="https://truckerpath.com/truckloads/free-load-board/">load board</a> and a <a href="http://truckerpath.com/dispatch">dispatch service</a>. So whatever side you choose—no offense. Cost Considerations On the surface, self-dispatching is a no-brainer. It’s primarily free to use load boards. Dispatch services, on the other hand, charge for their services. Essentially, they charge for doing something an owner-operator can do themselves by checking the load boards, negotiating and booking freight. In working with a dispatch service, you’ll be giving up a portion of your hard-earned revenue. These companies typically charge from 5 to 10% of the income for the load. Other dispatch services charge a flat fee per load or per week or month. The flip side of this is that self-dispatching takes time which carries its own cost. For example, if it takes you three hours to find, negotiate and book a $3,000 load, it could cost you less to let a dispatch service do it for you. For example, if they charged a 5% fee or $150, based on the standard operational cost of trucking of $70 per hour, self-dispatching would cost you $210—$60 more!* On top of that, popular load boards are only free up to a certain number of loads, like five per day, for example. If a carrier wants to access more than that, they often have to pony up for a subscription. The Issue of Control With a load board, you have complete control in booking your own freight. You say where and when you’ll run. In contrast, a dispatch service decides which loads they bring you based on your preferred commodities and lanes. You may lose some say when it comes to the details but you can always reject the dispatch service’s load offers. You’ll also lose control over relationships. The dispatch service is interfacing with the shipper or broker so they in effect “own” the relationship. The trade-off is that in using a dispatch service you’ll gain more control over your schedule and how much time you spend on the road. The dispatcher handles the details of the load and manages customer care. If you want to just focus on driving, you may be happy to give up control of these chores. Negotiating Rates With load boards, it’s easier than ever to find freight, bid and book loads. But easier doesn’t always mean better. Consistently charging competitive rates still takes time and effort. The only way to do that is by maintaining a pulse of the market and knowing how far to push brokers. Someone who handles negotiations for a living is always going to be better at it than someone who does it less often. It’s a matter of experience. So a dispatcher has an advantage when it comes to getting the best rate from brokers. It’s not uncommon for a dispatcher to negotiate a load with a rate per mile 20%+ more than the national average, and that can more than cover the 5 – 10% cost of using a dispatch service. Dispatchers have the advantage of knowing going rates. They’re watching multiple load boards all day. Maintaining this breadth of vision is time-consuming for an owner-operator to achieve. Dispatching services work for the carrier, so it is their mission to make sure the carrier is paid top dollar in rate and maximizing accessorial fees according to industry standards. Business Development Load boards expose carriers to shippers and loads en masse. They make it possible to find new freight and be found by shippers by being listed on the load board. For an owner-operator to significantly grow their business, they need to take it to the next level by developing lanes and solidifying repeat loads. That takes time and effort that a small carrier may not have the stomach for. When it comes to business development, dispatch services provide an advantage. A carrier can save time and effort by plugging into a dispatcher’s existing network. By leveraging dispatchers’ connections, carriers can quickly establish themselves in lanes and land repeat loads. With a dispatching service, carriers also get someone to advise them on the lanes with the most opportunity and to help them navigate the ebbs and flows of the market. The Administrative Load If you’re running one or two trucks, a sticky-note system may work just fine—and it’s free. That can quickly change as you add drivers and vehicles and things get more complicated. One of the last things an owner-operator wants to become is a paper jockey. Especially for small, ambitious carriers, the burden can limit growth. A dispatch service can be worth its weight in gold when it comes to the additional services most provide. These include: assigning loads and scheduling drivers, maintaining hours of service records, managing weather delays or other issues, handling track & trace check calls, and ensuring drivers equipment and drivers remain in compliance. Billing and Cash Flow Any owner-operator knows cash flow is the key to success—but bill collecting is exhausting work, strains relationships with shippers and just wears on the independent soul of a trucker. With a self-dispatching strategy, you’re on your own unless you hire a bookkeeper or factoring company and then oversee them. In contrast, dispatch services often wrangle the paperwork associated with delivering and billing for a load. This paperwork duty can include getting invoices to the shipper or a <a href="http://www.tafs.com">factoring company</a>, doing collections follow-ups, and payment processing—perhaps the biggest load on carriers’ minds. What’s best? What’s best comes down to a business decision. The success of any owner-operator hinges on the numbers. If you opt to dispatch-it-yourself, just make sure you record how much time you’re spending and use our handy $70 per hour as a rule of thumb. You’ll know when it’s time to corral your costs, and there are plenty of dispatch services out there waiting to help. *American Transportation Research Institute’s 2021 estimate for the operational costs of trucking is $66.87 per hour, which we increased to $70 per hour to adjust for inflation.

Aug 31, 2022