By Sam, a dispatcher at a large electronics distributor, had just wrapped up another exhausting day, looking at endless spreadsheets on his screen. He noticed a troubling trend: his company’s shipping costs were continuously rising. Lost packages, billing errors, and a fragmented system of multiple carriers were causing delays and frustration. Sam felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of manual updates, toggling between systems, and a lack of efficiency.
His experience is far from unique. Rising shipping costs are a growing concern for many businesses, with logistics now consuming up to 12% of a company’s total expenditure. In this fast-paced environment, it’s essential for companies to embrace smarter, more efficient systems. That’s where carrier software comes in—offering a solution to streamline shipping operations, reduce costs, and improve overall performance.
What Is Carrier Software and Why Is It Crucial?
Carrier software, often found in the form of a Transportation Management System (TMS) for carriers, helps businesses manage and coordinate their interactions with different shipping carriers. As global freight volumes are projected to triple by 2050, the need for real-time tracking and route optimization becomes even more critical. Carrier software consolidates data from various carriers and modes into one platform, giving dispatchers and managers visibility across all shipments without juggling multiple spreadsheets or portals.
This software eliminates many of the manual processes that lead to errors, such as duplicate data entry, billing discrepancies, and missed deadlines. A unified platform creates consistent workflows, reduces risk, and prevents small problems from escalating into major issues.
Core Features of a Carrier TMS
A robust TMS system for carriers helps businesses optimize every aspect of their shipping operations. Key features include:
- Route Optimization: The software analyzes factors like traffic, delivery windows, and capacity to suggest the most efficient routes, saving time and reducing fuel costs.
- Carrier Selection: Dispatchers can compare rates and services from multiple carriers, choosing the most suitable option based on real-time data for cost and capacity.
- Load and Capacity Planning: By maximizing truck space, TMS systems help reduce empty miles and unnecessary trips, improving overall efficiency.
- Visibility and Tracking: Real-time shipment tracking alerts businesses to delays, allowing for quick adjustments to avoid service interruptions.
- Data Analytics and Reporting: TMS platforms generate detailed reports on performance metrics, helping businesses identify inefficiencies and track trends over time.
The Benefits of Carrier Software for Enterprises
The right carrier software can transform your shipping operations by centralizing and automating critical processes. Here’s how it can benefit your business:
- Increased Efficiency: By automating routine tasks such as document generation and invoice matching, your team can focus on more strategic work, like improving customer service or negotiating better carrier contracts.
- Cost Reduction: Optimized routing reduces fuel consumption, maintenance, and driver hours. Having consistent data on freight performance also helps you negotiate better contracts with carriers.
- Better Customer Satisfaction: Late deliveries can damage customer relationships. A TMS system provides real-time updates and more accurate ETAs, ensuring timely deliveries and reducing customer service inquiries.
- Improved Data Accuracy: Automated workflows reduce human error, ensuring more reliable data on shipments, invoices, and addresses. This minimizes costly mistakes and disputes.
Managing Different Fleet Models with Carrier Software
Companies have different approaches to managing fleets: some use owned fleets, some outsource to third-party carriers, and others opt for a hybrid model. Carrier software can accommodate each approach:
- Owned Fleet: For companies with private fleets, carrier software helps with route planning, compliance checks, and driver management. It monitors driver performance, schedules rest breaks, and tracks vehicle maintenance, helping reduce downtime.
- Outsourced Fleet: Many businesses rely on external carriers. Carrier software centralizes oversight, providing real-time tracking and digital proof of delivery to ensure consistency across all partners.
- Hybrid Fleet: For flexibility, a hybrid fleet combines an in-house fleet for priority routes with outsourced carriers for overflow. Carrier software unifies both, optimizing resource allocation and reducing confusion.
Overcoming Routing Challenges with FarEye
FarEye offers a comprehensive solution that adapts to your fleet model, helping you overcome common challenges in route optimization and tracking. Here’s how FarEye supports businesses:
- Optimize Owned Fleets: FarEye’s solution tracks driver behavior, automates route planning, and reduces empty miles. Dispatchers receive real-time alerts if trucks deviate from planned paths or miss delivery windows, helping to keep costs in check.
- Manage Carrier Networks: FarEye integrates with a variety of carriers, providing a single interface to track shipments across all partners. This centralization eliminates manual reconciliations and simplifies communication.
- Multimodal Tracking: FarEye supports visibility across multiple transport modes, from ships to trucks to last-mile carriers. This “single source of truth” reduces manual intervention and ensures real-time monitoring across the entire supply chain.
- Predict Delivery Times: The system uses advanced algorithms to predict potential delays, allowing dispatchers to provide accurate ETAs and proactively communicate with customers.
- Improve On-Time, In-Full (OTIF) Performance: FarEye uses data from IoT devices and ERP systems to suggest the best routes, boosting on-time and in-full deliveries. Managers can monitor performance metrics in real-time and adjust strategies accordingly.
The Power of Real-Time Visibility
Real-time visibility is crucial for managing shipping efficiently. With a TMS platform like FarEye, managers can track shipments, monitor progress, and manage exceptions before they escalate into bigger issues. For example, if a truck is delayed at a port, real-time visibility enables dispatchers to act immediately—whether it’s rerouting the shipment or finding alternative transportation options—ensuring minimal disruption.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Carrier Software Implementation
To make the most of your carrier software, it’s essential to avoid these common pitfalls:
- Poor Data Quality: Inconsistent or outdated data can undermine the effectiveness of your TMS. Ensure your data is cleaned up before integration.
- Limited Carrier Partnerships: Some TMS platforms may not support all your carriers. Check if the software integrates with your key partners to avoid limitations.
- Insufficient Training: A powerful TMS is only as effective as the team using it. Proper training is essential to ensure your staff fully understands the software’s capabilities and can leverage them to improve operations.
- Change Management: Implementing a new TMS often means changing daily workflows. It’s important to engage stakeholders early, explaining how the new system will save time and reduce errors.
Building a Resilient Supply Chain with Multimodal Tracking
Multimodal shipping, which involves using different transport modes like trucks, ships, and air freight, adds complexity to logistics. A missed connection can cause significant delays, but with advanced multimodal tracking, you can ensure real-time updates across all shipping legs. FarEye’s integration with freight forwarders, 3PLs, and ocean carriers enables real-time tracking, allowing businesses to identify and resolve issues quickly, improving supply chain resilience.
A Path Toward Optimized Shipping Operations
Sam’s experience, from drowning in spreadsheets to using a streamlined, data-driven approach, highlights the transformative power of carrier software. By adopting a modern TMS, businesses can eliminate inefficiencies, reduce costs, and create a seamless shipping process that improves both customer satisfaction and operational performance.
FarEye’s advanced solutions bring all carrier data into a single platform, helping businesses optimize routes, manage carrier networks, and improve on-time deliveries. With the right tools in place, enterprises can stay flexible in a dynamic market, empowering dispatchers and supply chain managers to optimize operations for growth.