We spend a lot of time meeting with Carriers to understand how they operate and how we can serve them better. One of the biggest pain points across most small-to-medium Carriers (SMCs) is the lack of access to affordable, modern technology. Because of this, most SMCs heavily rely on “free” spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to manage their business.
Unfortunately, the idea that spreadsheets are “free” and therefore not a cost-center for SMCs is a very common misconception. Sure, spreadsheet software is universally available, infinitely customizable, and incredibly simple to use, but, they require endless hours of manual data entry and constant updating, provide no stakeholder accountability, and are prone to human error.
Most Carriers leveraging “free” spreadsheets find themselves managing 8+ spreadsheets and are burdened with inefficiencies. What’s more, managing multiple spreadsheets is actually increasing labor costs, lowering employee productivity, and siloing information.
Instead of being “free”, spreadsheets actually increase SMCs costs without them even realizing it. So, what’s being done about this?
We’ve revamped the NEXT Drayage Carrier portal to do everything spreadsheets do, but a lot trucking better:
- Quickly assign or reassign Drivers on the fly to keep your loads moving
- Rapidly access thousands of Traditional & Free Flow container loads
- Proactively dispatch your Drivers days in advance
- Dramatically increase back office efficiency by eliminating check-calls and manual document scanning
- Easily scan reporting for pending payments, past payments, missing or rejected documents, and missing invoices.
Know what else is great? The NEXT Drayage Carrier Portal is actually free and helping many SMCs drive down their overhead costs. The SMCs who have already adopted the portal are seeing increased back-office productivity, increased operational efficiencies, and a decrease in employee overtime costs.
By giving Fleet Managers and Dispatchers the ability to easily manage the container lifecycle in just a few clicks, their team can operate in real-time without increasing overhead costs, taking an SMC’s Drayage business to the next level.
