What Is A Transportation Management System, and How Does It Work?
A transportation management system, or TMS, is a software solution that handles truck or carrier dispatching, billing, driver pay, driver records, IFTA reporting, and DOT compliance, among other things. A transportation management system also improves customer service across company areas by optimizing carrier routes and delivering vital analytics.
What Are The Advantages Of Using a TMS?
The elimination of redundant data entry, improved visibility and communication between dispatchers and drivers, enhanced customer service, the ability to manage more difficult, but higher-paying freight, streamlined accounting and integration with QuickBooks, simplified driver management, DOT regulatory compliance, and simplified IFTA fuel tax r are all key benefits of a TMS.
Who Is Transportation Management Software Beneficial To?
Truckload carriers, freight brokers, 3PL companies that handle third-party logistics, and less-than-truckload - LTL carriers all benefit from transportation management software. Transportation Management Software can help with all of these tasks. Today, the sector provides cloud-based and desktop tms software to assist all types of transportation businesses in managing growth, increasing revenue, and increasing profits.
What Is TMS Software and How Does It Work?
TMS Software ensures that essential information is shared in real time throughout the organization. A TMS provides a single integrated solution where all critical information relating to drivers, customers, equipment, revenue, rates, and charges is kept and handled, from dispatching to accounting, maintenance to compliance, invoicing to driver pay, and everything in between.
What Is The Need For a TMS System In a Trucking Company?
To keep up with this industry, you'll need a TMS System. Due to inefficiencies and oversights, many trucking businesses and brokers have razor-thin profit margins. These are frequently created by manual processes that have been in place for years, but as the company grows, the tasks of manually inputting data in different areas becomes too much to handle.
What Distinguishes a Transportation Management System From Others?
When looking for the best TMS for your trucking firm or freight brokerage, keep the following in mind:
- Mileage and routing, dispatch, freight billing, revenue settlement/driver advances, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, general ledger, fuel tax, and fleet maintenance are all included as linked modules
- Module for vehicle maintenance and repair that is integrated
- A simple dispatch board that provides quick access to available loads
- Views of available drivers and equipment are available immediately
- Customer-specific feedback
- Calculate mileage by pointing and clicking
- Driver advances and advance settlements are disbursed quickly and easily
- Split trips, "drops & hooks," and combos are all handled
- Reports on trailer movement in detail
- The capacity to handle confirmations from both the carrier and the customer
- The ability to configure for a single user or a network
- Popular accounting software packages such as QuickBooks, Sage, Simply Accounting, and others have powerful interfaces
- Module for Hours of Service (HOS)
- Popular ELD solutions such as Omnitracs, PeopleNet, KeepTruckin, Rand McNally, Fleetmatics, and others have robust connectors
What Are The Most Important Advantages Of Using a Transportation Management System?
A solid TMS will provide your company with the following benefits, including the capacity to:
- Simplify your dispatch functions and boost your client service
- Allows you to rapidly provide rate quotes to both new and existing customers
- Print freight bills and take care of driver advances and revenue distribution
- You can keep track of all your vehicles, drivers, and loads so you always know where they are
What Kinds Of Integrations and Extensions Should a Transportation Management System Have?
Your chosen transportation software solution should be able to scale with your growing trucking company. Finding out if the following integrations are available will go a long way toward ensuring that your TMS will be able to suit your demands in the long run.
- Accounting Integration with QuickBooks®
- Integration with Sage Accounting
- Load Boards Interface Fuel Card Interface
- Commissions for Mobile Communications Document Imaging Internet Shipment Tracking Reporting
- EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange (Electronic Document Interchange)
- DriveAxle®Integration
- SaferWatch®Integration
- eFax®Integration
- Integrations with popular ELD (Electronic Logging Device) suppliers such as Omnitracs, PeopleNet, KeepTruckin, Rand McNally, Fleetmatics, and others.
What Criteria Should I Look For In a TMS Software Solution That Will Handle My Combined Carrier and Freight Brokerage Operations?
There are a variety of ways to run a brokerage firm: you could run operations for both businesses out of one office with dispatchers who work for both; you could have two separate databases within one office; you could have completely separate operations or offices for each business; or you could be somewhere in the middle. Your TMS should be adaptable to however you choose to organize your firm.
After you enter a load into the system, the TMS automatically determines if the load was assigned to your own vehicle and whether it should be attributed to your carrier or brokerage firm.
Speed: If you enter all loads into your brokerage business database, then mark to haul some loads yourself, a flexible TMS may transfer that information to your carrier database and complete subsequent accounting stages immediately.
Reporting: With a TMS that understands how your business works, you can provide accurate reports in minutes rather than hours.
Integration: A TMS's ability to link with other corporate systems, such as accounting software, can eliminate data entry errors and speed up reporting, allowing it to be completed in minutes rather than hours.
Options: Some suppliers provide on-premise or cloud-based TMS solutions, giving you more options in terms of how you use it.
Put your infrastructure in place and make the most of it.
What Impact Do Government Rules Have On My Decision To Purchase a Transportation Management System?
In terms of DOT Government Regulations, it's vital that your chosen TMS solution has a stellar reputation for quality control and customer service. The provider should have a fine-tuned delivery procedure for product upgrades that reflect changes to the ELD mandate and hours of service, IFTA Fuel Tax Reporting, Driver Management, DOT compliance, and any other government regulation changes that affect the Transportation Industry in general. These product updates are crucial to ensuring that your transportation firm follows all rules and regulations.