5 Must-Have freight software features in 2018
Using software to help automate your Shipping Business is a necessity in today’s transport industry, but are there beneficial features that your freight management software is missing? From maintaining steady contact with drivers to providing recommended routes and automated ETAs, to general business management, Freight Management Software can help with almost all facets of your business. To make sure you’re getting the most out of your system though, you should know the best features to look for.
1. Direct Driver Contact Management
Maintaining direct contact with your drivers is crucial to shipment managers. Making sure that you can get immediate status updates from your drivers allows you to stay better informed on your shipment statuses, which then allows you to provide your customers with more information and better service
2. Risk and Compliance Management
When it comes to shipping hazardous materials, as a shipping manager you need to tread cautiously and avoid any accidents that could have greater repercussions due to hazardous material spillage. You need to make sure that your freight management software produces automated shipment audits and generates the necessary reports to conform to government regulations for the transport of hazardous waste.
3. Multi-National Capabilities
If your shipments are crossing borders you need to make sure that your transport management system can accommodate international needs. This means multi-language capability, currency exchange, proper measurement scales and automated shipment reports for border crossing. If you’re missing this in your current software, you can run the risk of government penalties by accidentally violating import/export regulations.
4.Freight Visibility
One of the core features of any Transport Management System (TMS) is freight visibility. The main concept here is to have real-time oversight to your shipments’ locations, suggested routes, ETAs and more. This helps to avoid any MIA or delayed shipments, and help you keep your clientele more informed on their shipments which is going to be a value-added service for your company.
5. Operations and Supply Chain Analytics
Freight Management Software should be able to analyze your current shipping practices and patterns and produce detailed reports for you to review. This should give you a better view of your company’s operations and allow you to make better-guided management decisions. This can help you minimize overall operational costs, reduce shipment fleet downtime, and make increasingly more informed decisions based on future data collection.