If you’re working in a freight broker or logistics company, you may have mixed feelings about technology. While technology can do things faster, you may worry that technology is going to work so well that it will put you out of a job. If you have that worry, you’re not alone. Everyone wants to protect their livelihood, but the truth is that in the freight broker and logistics world, people are still at the center of everything we do — a point that Russ Felker, CTO of GlobalTranz, recently made in a webinar with Trucker Tools.
“Regardless of the amount of digitization, it’s still people that need to interact,” said Felker.
“Regardless of the amount of digitization, it’s still people that need to interact,” said Felker.
If your company is implementing new technology, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a threat to your job. In fact, technology may even be able to help you. Read on to learn how technology can increase your commissions and help you in your day-to-day work.
Technology’s Value: Do More with the Same Team
In a conversation a few weeks ago with FreightWaves and Trucker Tools, President of Surge Transportation Omar Singh spoke about the role that he sees technology playing in his freight broker business — a view that most brokers and 3PLs that we know share.
“Technology doesn’t need to take people’s jobs away,” Singh said. “Our hope is to be able to do more with the same size team, to grow without maybe hiring more people as quickly so we can be more cost effective and efficient that way. There’s still a complete human element behind automation, which can only take it so far, and then you need people to be involved, which in our case is our carrier track and trace team, our carrier sales team. You need people to catch the outliers, the exceptions. It’s a hybrid model of a tech-enabled, more efficient team. I haven’t had one lay-off due to automation and all the digital tech-enabled things we’re doing.”
“Technology doesn’t need to take people’s jobs away,” Singh said. “Our hope is to be able to do more with the same size team, to grow without maybe hiring more people as quickly so we can be more cost effective and efficient that way. There’s still a complete human element behind automation, which can only take it so far, and then you need people to be involved, which in our case is our carrier track and trace team, our carrier sales team. You need people to catch the outliers, the exceptions. It’s a hybrid model of a tech-enabled, more efficient team. I haven’t had one lay-off due to automation and all the digital tech-enabled things we’re doing.”
Companies like Surge Transportation, Ryan Transportation, GlobalTranz and many others have been able to increase the amount of freight that they move by implementing Trucker Tools’ real-time freight tracking, digital freight matching and Book-It-Now® — without changing the size of their teams.
Cover Loads Faster, Increase Commission with
Digital Freight Matching
Technology like Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching can increase your commissions and help you in your day-to-day work by making it faster and easier to find and secure trucks. With digital freight matching, you don’t need to call owner operators and carriers to ask them what trucks they have available. Digital freight matching can be used in place of load boards, which aren’t real-time and are often time-consuming to use. Instead of spending an hour working the phones, load boards and email trying to find a truck for a load, you can quickly search for in-network and out-of-network trucks in real-time with a few clicks of your mouse with digital freight matching. You also can easily book backhauls with carriers in a single communication and see where trucks will be available in the future with Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching platform.
If you work on commission in a logistics or freight broker business, technology like Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching actually can help you increase your take-home pay. For example, let’s say that you earn a base salary of $40,000/year with a commission of 13 percent on gross margin/net revenue on loads, which happens to be the average entry-level salary for someone brokering freight. Let’s also imagine that your average net revenue per load is $500. If Trucker Tools’ digital freight matching technology helps you broker 20 additional loads in a given month, you stand to increase your monthly pay by $1,300.
Simplify Your Day-to-Day Work with Real-Time
Freight Tracking
Shippers expect instant access to real-time information just like you do when you order something from Amazon and want to know exactly when it will arrive. Technology like Trucker Tools’ real-time freight tracking platform makes it easy for you to provide shippers with highly accurate ETAs and simplifies your day-to-day work. Instead of making 10 calls per load to find out where a truck is, you can instantly view the real-time location of the truck on your computer screen. Trucker Tools’ freight tracking uses the Trucker Tools app and the GPS tech in the driver’s phone to supply you with real-time location updates every five minutes. Trucker Tools’ freight tracking also integrates with most transportation management systems, which means you can view this real-time data directly in your TMS.
Companies that have implemented Trucker Tools’ real-time load tracking usually can significantly reduce the number of check calls needed for loads. Fewer check calls doesn’t mean you’re out of a job, though, if you work on a track and trace team. Exceptions and delays still need to be addressed by human beings. Instead of performing repetitive, manual tasks like check calls over and over again, you’re likely to spend more time problem-solving issues for shippers — something that technology can’t do.
Read Use Trucker Tools’ ELD Integration as Real-Time Visibility Alternative to learn how your carriers can use their ELDs to track loads. Schedule a free demo of Trucker Tools’ freight tracking platform, digital freight matching and Book-It-Now®.