The trucking tech stack, part 2: Back office innovation
From rethinking routes to zapping paperwork.
This article is part two of a two-part series exploring the evolving trucking tech stack, or the widening array of industry-specific technology available to fleets. Part one focused on tools designed for the road. This week, we turn to tech for the back office.
From fleet hardware like in-cab cameras to software that can help drivers complete on-the-road proof of deliveries, the trucking tech stack — or the technical infrastructure powering trucking companies — has expanded to nearly every step of the load lifecycle.
Still, it’s the technologies installed inside vehicles, like increasingly advanced autopilot features or Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs), that often receive the bulk of attention. More to the point for the daily management of large fleets are often technologies that offer easy back office integration, bridging the gap between drivers and the business side of the operation.
Here, our picks for the five back office technologies to watch:
1. Transportation Management Systems (TMS) 2.0
Transportation Management Systems (TMS) have been around in various forms for decades, moving from on-premise AS400-based system to desktop applications and in recent years, to the cloud.
Now, TMS platforms are evolving with the broader tech industry to adopt features like mobile connectivity and increasing emphasis on data analytics. One of the clearest examples of how today’s TMS systems have changed is the shift to all-in-one, cloud-based systems that allow companies to track realtime freight status, manage routes from afar and share load information.
2. Getting social
Here at Vector, one of the most exciting areas of opportunity for back office technology is enhanced collaboration. Where important load information is often spread out across multiple paper documents or siloed digital channels, borrowing from the approach of social media companies offers a potential model to make sure all stakeholders stay on the same page.
Take our new Vector Portals feature. The system enables companies with older TMSes to liberate their data. Custom groups for both internal and users external to the organization are a breeze to set up. Customer and carrier portals securely share available loads, realtime load tracking and analytics, increasing partner visibility and control.
3. Rethinking routes
Though GPS has been routing drivers for years, the increasingly wide world of “dynamic routing” takes advantage of improving location and mapping technologies to make changes to routes with maximal impact on efficiency.
Layering traffic, weather and other data sources, fleets can optimize their assets to drive down inefficient routing and better service their customers. Today, with HOS and ELDs hanging over the industry, dynamic routing plays a critical role in planning and optimizing fleet operations.
4. Diving into market data
Closely related to the nascent realm of tech startups offering on-demand delivery is the evolution of market data and load boards. On one hand, broader platforms, including Vector, increasingly offer integrated market data to help customers contextualize how efficiently their workflows are operating.
More acutely focused on realtime market data are providers like Truckstop.com, and DAT. With their network of users feeding back pricing data on a daily basis, some may say that market data is even more important today than facilitating load matching.
5. A fleet maintenance makeover
Vehicle maintenance — especially of the unexpected variety — is a perpetual problem for back office teams making financial projects. Tech providers are increasingly positioning software as the answer to bring more predictability, and maybe even better long-term financial performance.
Trimble’s TMT Fleet Maintenance, for example, promises both better regulatory compliance and ROI. AUTOsist is among the companies selling cloud-based systems to track fuel, maintenance and other records in one place.
6. Moving past paperwork
Given the wealth of improvements in many areas of a fleet’s day-to-day operations, it can be surprising how much paper shuffling and filing continues to eat up time and resources. Most popular TMS systems have their own document management modules, such as TMW’s Synergize via Microdea or McLeod’s Document Power. Still, with large numbers of automated workflows and triggers set up on the back-end, companies are left to contend with the major pain point of having to classify and index documents.
That’s where Vector’s technology comes in. Our imaging system automatically recognizes documents scanned previously, and newly-uploaded documents are index and doctyped instantaneously. Text can also be lifted off documents and fed back into the fleet’s TMS, closing the information loop.
Interested in learning more about tomorrow’s trucking tech? Try a free demo of Vector’s logistics workflow technology.
