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The best way to manage your communications between dispatchers and drivers is to eliminate the need for so much talking.

OneTerminal TMS from JSY Software is your solution. It virtually eliminates risky talk with drivers.

• Automatically, and without the need for any driver input at all, keep track of available weight and space capacity on every truck, in real time.
• Keep track of Hazmat quantities and weights, in real time. Send placarding alerts.
• Send order details, including routing instructions, with a single mouse click.
• Best of all: No talking required.

Make your drivers safer and give your staff and customers better information – and get it faster.

OneTerminal TMS gives you a better operation with almost no driver talk.

For your free hands-on consultation, fill out the short form below, or contact us at jmiller @ jsysoftware.com (Jonathan Miller) or 877-540-0030.

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There was an interesting question posed by Deborah Lockridge, editor at Heavy Duty Trucking, early this week, which sparked a discussion thread:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/What-tips-do-you-have-134135.S.107106598?qid=44123cd7-93fa-474f-9c4e-55590cc41bbd&trk=group_most_popular-0-b-ttl&goback=.gmp_134135

While some people commented on fuel efficiency, reducing accidents caused by sloppy backing up, and so on, we feel strongly that having the right TMS is the #1 way to cut costs in local P&D, by reducing bottlenecks and redundancies in the office environment and by making drivers more productive.

If your staff never had to put people on hold to answer a POD request, how much time would that alone save you, not to mention how much your customers would appreciate it?

As one person commented in the replies:  “The wrong software is wrong, even if free, and the right TMS is golden, no matter the cost. The money spent is insignificant compared to the personnel savings and increased productivity of the drivers.”

—The Editors

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The driver shortage continues to make headlines.

http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20120213-solutions-to-driver-shortage-elusive/

We have a local angle on the situation, in case you missed it:

http://www.jsysoftware.com/blog/?p=191

Local driving takes some real skills, as our earlier blogpost says. The HOS and pay-per-mile issues that plague OTR carriers, as well as the quality-of-family-life issues so often mentioned, are less applicable on the local scene.

Keep your local drivers safe and busy and you will not have a driver shortage!

–The Editors

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The IRS is announcing a “voluntary reclassification” program that would provide partial protection for businesses that agree to prospectively treat workers, who had been formerly treated as contractors, as employees.

Click here to read the full article.

Food for thought!

–The Editors

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We found this article on TruckingInfo.com that discusses the possible options and benefits of deploying GPS in a smaller fleet:

Click here to see the full article.

Depending on what works best with your TMS, there are a variety of GPS packages that can give you the functionality you need.  In addition to watching GPS “breadcrumbs” on a screen, dispatchers can benefit from systems such as Actsoft’s Comet Tracker, which has simple drop-down forms for drivers to enter arrival and departure times; this can be used as an alternative to geofencing.

Keep in mind that EOBR rules that usually apply for OTR fleets are waived for local trucking because of the 100-mile exemption.

–The Editors

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Everyone is complaining about the driver shortage. But don’t make the mistake of hiring unqualified drivers.  As we have said previously, it is always worth waiting for the best driver to hire instead of panicking and taking the best available candidate on hand at the moment.  Your company will be rewarded with lower turnover, lower claims, and higher productivity.

In local pickup and delivery work, what are the top 5 reasons you would not want to hire a driver?  Here’s our list of best practices:

• Reason #5:  Securing freight. If a driver can’t use e-track or logistic straps, that driver shouldn’t work for you.
• Reason #4:   Liftgates.  Your drivers need to show you — not just tell you — that they can take a skid up and down.  Make every candidate do this in front of you.
• Reason #3:  Math.  Every driver must be able to count the number of pallets in a shipment, with no mistakes.
• Reason #2:  Hazmat. Don’t just look at the endorsement!  Make the driver take a written test.
• And the Top, #1, Most Important Thing in local P&D that a driver needs to do to make you money:  Backing and Spotting.  Make the driver show you his/her speed and accuracy.  When you’re making 20 stops a day, you can’t afford drivers who are slow at this.

Do the right thing.  Be patient, and be tough.  If you flunk between half  and 3/4 of your applicants, you have a good test.

–The Editors

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We just found a great article in the New York Times, on the role that luck plays in some business being 10x more successful in their sectors than others.  Everyone has luck, but the issue is this:  what sort of return on luck do you have?

Click here to read the article.

Moving Forward,

Jonathan Miller, Editor

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Have you hit a wall in your usual recruitment efforts for new drivers?

Maybe you’re stuck in yesterday’s ways of communicating about your vacancies.

We thought this approach outlined in Transport Topics was interesting.

Click here to read the full article.

Simply put, you have to reach people where they are looking. The perspective given here also applies broadly in other business sectors and includes purchasing habits. For example, Generation Y people (people aged roughly 18-34 in 2011) rarely if ever read things that aren’t online. The take-away is that, if you’re only advertising in print publications for your driver positions, you will essentially be invisible to that age group.

–Jonathan Miller, Editor

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Local trucking sometimes involves the collection of small invoices.  Sending out bills is good;  but getting a new customer can be nerve-wracking.  Will they be happy with the service?  Will they pay their invoices?  Did they switch because their previous carrier cut them off?  References and credit checks only go so far, and that is not far enough.  Ultimately, it is always a risk to add a customer.  Here are some ways to lessen the risk.

Let’s suppose that your shiny new customer has failed to pay the first few invoices.  What to do now?  Legal action is very expensive, and you can never be sure of the outcome.  Here are a few ideas to try after your in-house efforts to collect are exhausted:

1. Invoice Other Parties to the Transaction:  There are numerous court cases and their rulings sometimes conflict, but there is enough case law out there to justify your taking this step.  Unless section 7 of the BOL is executed, you can try to collect freight charges from other parties to the shipment.  It may be the shipper, or consignee, or both if arranged by a third party.  Start with an apologetic call in which you inform them that, even though they may have paid for shipping already, they are liable to you for the charges because “……………” (whoever is not paying you) did not pay the freight invoice.  You can tell that other party that you are sorry, of course, to have to take this course of action, but the law is clear, and it was put in place to protect carriers like your company from situations exactly like this.  Gently suggest that they call the offending party and encourage the invoice to get paid, solving the problem.  This puts huge pressure on your customer, as now THEIR customer or vendor is angry with them.  If this initial call does not do the trick, go ahead and issue an invoice, and follow with collection calls to everyone.
2. Find a Specialized Attorney:  There are attorneys and firms that specialize in small collections and can be effective with claims under $1,000.  Typically they start with a series of letters and then go to lawsuit.  Here is a common arrangement:  You send the attorney copies of unpaid invoices (with supporting documents and any explanations).  The attorney will try to collect and, if successful, will charge you a fee between 20-30% of anything collected.  If this fails, you may be offered the choice to file a lawsuit by paying for court costs (different in every state, often over $100).  After this point the attorney keeps about 50% of anything collected.  The attorney may suggest you accept less than the amount owed, meaning you end up with well under 50% of the original charges.  What you’ll be left with is better than nothing, and in particular, the act of documenting the deadbeat customer will help future carriers make better credit decisions.  Word gets around.  Because some shippers are in the habit of stiffing local trucking companies on a regular basis, your taking strong action in this way will make it less likely that shippers will pick your company as a victim.
3. Settle:  It is unpleasant, but sometimes the situation calls for a business decision.  Try calling and asking what THEY think is the fair amount to pay–and then, when an amount is mentioned, just accept.  Better to get something rather than nothing. The process of settling is not only much faster but also probably yields the same amount (after fees) as a collection placement.  Make sure you have a system in place that prevents accepting more work from that party in the future.

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Getting a signed credit application from every customer is one of the most important actions a local trucking company can do to protect itself.  What is most important is NOT the bank information, or the references.  The important part is the fine print.

Somewhere in every credit app there should be statements that:

• The customer agrees to pay invoices within XX days
• If not paid on time, the interest rate is XX%
• Customer pays collection costs

If your credit app does not contain this verbiage, find one that does and copy the key sentences.

The reason this is so important is that, without this language, a court may rule that the customer never promised to pay and therefore does not have to!  Without a formal contract, the credit app is the only document wherein the customer promises to pay you.  This is very important if any collection effort is needed in the future.  If there is not a provision for interest, the court will not grant any interest!  Finally, it is very expensive to take a customer to court–and unless the customer has agreed in advance to pay for this expense, the court WILL NOT award collection expenses!

You never want a prospective customer to think about these issues, so present the document in a non-threatening way.  Say “I know you have not decided to use us, but I want to set up an account just to be ready.”  If they do not want to give a bank reference, or even customer references, NO PROBLEM!  The most important thing is the signature anyway.  We recommend wording, in big bold letters, that signing the credit app DOES NOT obligate the prospective customer to ever use the local trucking services.  Point to it when asking for them to fill out and sign the credit app.

Your local trucking business will benefit from following the simple steps above for a credit application with teeth.

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