Covered in a Flash
44 Commercial Carrier Journal December 2008 D uring the past two years, shrinking margins for truck-load and less-than-truckload carriers have caused many fleet own-ers to halt their investments in roll-ing assets. Instead, many have been pursuing asset-light strategies in brokerage and third-party logistics. Like a growing number of compa-nies today, All Pro Freight Systems offers both asset- and nonasset-based transportation services. Growth in the brokerage side of the Cleveland-based company continues to outpace its fleet division; today, annual revenues are $35 and $25 million respectively, says Christy Murray, director of busi-ness development. Because fleets and intermediaries share many of the same operational and accounting processes, software providers in the transportation indus-try have developed base systems that fit the needs of both types of companies. All Pro Freight uses an enterprise resource planning software package from TMW Systems for both divisions. Dispatchers on the fleet side have instant visibility to the available loads in the brokerage division, while all accounting, finances and operational data from both divisions are integrated into one system for reporting. It makes for a much more efficient oper-ation in the back office, Murray says. To continue to grow a nonasset business in today's highly competi-tive trucking market, companies must become more specialized and efficient in the services they offer. The latest software tools can help accomplish this by using informa-tion assets to automate the commu-nications and transactions necessary to move freight using someone else's equipment and drivers. Instant notification In the past, intermediaries relied on the telephone and fax to conduct rou-tine business. Today's management software systems enable intermediar-ies to automate many of the steps involved in finding capacity, tender-ing loads, updating delivery status and other transactions. For several years, McLeod Software has offered a feature called the Private Notification Network (PNN) with its PowerBroker II system for brokerage and third-party logistics providers. McLeod users can tender loads to their private list of carriers automatically according to the lanes and ZIP codes carriers prefer. As soon as a customer order is entered into PowerBroker, PNN sends out an e-mail or fax notification to the pri-vate list of carriers to ask if they have a truck available, says David Custred, Information is the greatest asset to move freight with someone else's power.