Rapid industry changes and rising diesel costs are eroding margins and changing the competitive landscape for TL, LTL, & general carriers. It's often hard to tell if you're making or losing money, whether you're in or out of compliance. It's a fact -- many companies are not going to make it through the challenges of today's market. Putting the right tools in place now to get control of your business is the best thing you can do to ensure yours is one of the companies to survive -- and thrive -- as others fail.
Read on below to learn how Profit Tools can help with many of your key issues.
Or hear from our users how Proft Tools has helped trucking companies like yours.
"Rising fuel costs are killing our margins.”
Key solution: Keep track of rising diesel costs nationwide. Profit Tools links to current nationwide DOE fuel cost data so you won't fall behind in determining what you should charge. You can control fuel surcharge rates with system defaults and vary rates by customer and type of work, such as local vs. road. When you change rates, you can apply the new rates to unbilled shipments. And you can use our shipment profitability tool to determine on the fly if what you're charging and what you're paying out will make money or lose money, before it's too late.
"Slow-paying customers are killing our cash-flow.”
Key solution: You can invoice to PDF and email invoices and related documents direct to the customer, saving postage and mail time. Or invoice electronically via EDI. If a customer does dispute a bill, Document Imaging allows you to produce and email on-demand PODs and other documents while you have the customer on the phone, avoiding a drawn-out dispute. For Quickbooks® users, Profit Tools AR Cross-Check feature allows you to see open invoices and outstanding balances within Profit Tools when speaking with your customer or determining whether to take a load.
"We're running too many empty or partially-loaded miles."
Key solution: Profit Tools quick-match capabilities give dispatchers the tools they need to identify in-route and back-haul opportunities. Profit Tools Route Manager/Optimizer can assign freight to routes and optimize stops into efficient routes.
"We don't know where our trailers are."
Key solution: Profit Tools gives you the ability to track every piece of equipment from start to finish with drop-trailer reporting, solving your headache of losing a trailer or trying to find one that is already missing. The Profit Tools solution offers easy-to-manage tracking tools to document where a trailer travels and stamps a date and time in the system to tell you how long it has been in a specific location.
"We need to dispatch and broker, and sometimes within the same shipment."
Key solution: With Profit Tools, brokered loads can be managed as individual transactions or built into trips under a single contract, allowing you to manage payables by shipment or trip. You can also split loads or legs between your own trucks and outside carriers, reducing your risk of losing a freight bill or missing an accessorial charge.
"We spend too much time answer customer calls for updates."
Key solution: Using e-mail notifications, you can answer customer questions before they call. The Profit Tools system can send an automatic email to a pre-determined list of recipients for status updates as their shipment moves. Or, if your customers prefer, status updates can be relayed through your website or EDI, giving you multiple options to distribute information and provide excellent service to your customers.
"We need a better handle on driver endorsements and hours-of-service."
Key solution: Profit Tools provides driver alerts that warn you, for example, if you try to assign a hazmat load to a non-hazmat driver. With Profit Tools, you can also audit driver logs, maintain current driver compliance information, and print violation reports to keep you records up to DOT standards. This feature helps you identify and retain good drivers while keeping DOT and insurance hassles to a minimum.
"The tractor registration ran out and we didn't know about it."
Key solution: Profit Tools provides advanced equipment alerts so you know when your registrations are set to expire, preventing accidental dispatch of an unregistered unit and your key shipment from being stopped at the side of the road.
"We want the convenience of running our multiple divisions in one dispatch program, but we need to keep the divisional financials separate.”
Key solution: Profit Tools enables you to map sales to one or multiple accounting companies, and to separate divisions or GLs within one company. Profit Tools can also separate driver pay to different GLs, even if one driver performs work for multiple divisions.
We're swimming in paper." Key solution: Profit Tools solutions can reduce the amount of time your staff spends on filing, researching, copying, faxing and filing documents. With solutions such as Document Imaging, Auto-Email, and EDI and EDD, information is readily available to your office and your customers, significantly reducing paperwork and delayed billing.
We could grow more, but we'd risk losing control."
Key solution: Grow with confidence. Profit Tools gives both your operations and management teams the ability to accurately identify and track vital information at the click of the mouse. From streamlined billing, document imaging to reduce clutter and mishandled records, to automated communications to keep the field and the dispatchers all on the same page, Profit Tools has comprehensive solutions to help your company grow.
