What Is Load Tracking? Why Freight Teams Must Take Advantage.

Load tracking is the practice of monitoring the status of freight loads.

This includes tracking the loads in an automated fashion via in-transit updates. Tracking updates provide essential data such as delays, ETA’s, route information, traffic, and so much more based on the capabilities of your load tracking platform.

With tracking data, freight brokers are able to quickly react to shipment challenges.

Take for example, a shipment en route to Atlanta from Chicago suggests the shipment is delayed by a couple hours. The broker is able to reroute the load and/or adjust the delivery window to alert and improve the customer experience.

By knowing load location at any given time complimented with in-transit updates, brokers are able to reduce the number of check calls and increase their overall operational efficiency.

In this Article…

What are the benefits of load tracking?

Load tracking conveniently allows for:

Better Customer Experience – Communication is key. When delays, traffic, logistical nightmares, and obstacles slow down shipments, brokers will be in the know with real time updates. Brokers are then able to relay that information to their customers. Load tracking improves the broker-customer relationship and helps increase business value to all working parties.

Prevent Costly Fees – Truck drivers are allocated to picking up and delivering a shipment or load in a certain amount of time. If the driver goes over the allocated time then brokers will be charged a detention fee. But with load tracking, shipments and their data operate at a smoother operational pace, allowing brokers to prevent costly fees.

Eliminate Check Calls – The old fashioned way of tracking shipment status was by calling the driver on their mobile phone and asking for location. These are known as check calls. With load tracking platforms, brokers can eliminate all check calls and access driver location at any moment. This also improves driver safety (eliminating the need to talk on the phone while driving).

Higher ROI – With high value data at your fingertips, brokers are able to proactively react to the disruptions of a shipment. This means brokers increase time management, reduce costs, make smarter business decisions, and keep more money in their pocket that increase profit margins.

Deliver On Time – Even in cases of delayed shipments, load tracking software helps increase your chances of delivering on time. Data will help brokers communicate the right information and decisions to their supply chain partners to mitigate disruptions. Disruptions can also be communicated to customers in order to adjust the delivery window.

What type of load tracking software should I use?

As a freight broker, it’s important to work with a reputable, established partner that has a strong track record in the freight brokerage space and is connected with as many carriers as possible.

In general, it’s best to consider a software provider that’s been in business for multiple years and provides solutions with automated status updates and multimodal visibility in real time. This will enable you to make the best use of your time while maintaining top-quality service for your customers.

What are the best features of load tracking software?

Load tracking software should provide high quality data and integrations to carrier systems via their TMS or ELD/GPS solutions for both desktop and mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones. It should be intuitive, easy to use, and include mobile features that function on both Wi-Fi and regular cell signals to provide the best user experience possible.

Other features includes:

Multimodal visibility – Get real-time tracking across different modes of transportation: full truckload, LTL, rail, ocean, and parcel

Precise location data and predictive ETAs – Manage by exception, overcome any obstacles and keep everything running on time

Intelligent alerting – Dynamic updates inform you of changes as they occur, so you can proactively manage at-risk loads.

Higher levels of data integrity – Enhanced data insights mean enhanced management of carrier performance.

How will load tracking software benefit my business?

One of the greatest benefits for businesses is the speed at which brokers can track loads.

Automated load tracking is much faster than tracking loads manually. The results helps save your employees an enormous amount of time, allowing them to focus on other valuable business work.

With load tracking software, you can also maximize capacity and avoid deadheading, thanks to better planning and tighter booking. This can boost customer satisfaction and retention while helping you reduce penalties such as chargebacks and detention from customers and carriers.