In a holiday season that threatens to upend numbers from all holiday seasons past, carriers are way past busy. Drivers are spending more time on the road, and dispatchers are spending more time securing loads to ensure drivers are covered. They’re also making certain that for all the loads going out, there are options for backhaul coming in, as well. The process is not easy, and it’s made all the more difficult by carriers that tend to rely on antiquated, disjointed systems to manage their freight. Frankly, those kinds of systems just won’t cut it this year.
Book, and track loads and lanes
Transfix FMS is designed to change the game this holiday season. With direct access to the Transfix load board, Transfix FMS lets carriers manage their freight better, more easily, and more profitably.
You can also search for dedicated freight, which is something really special about the program. If Transfix has dedicated freight going in that lane, you can get a regular three loads a week on that exact lane. You can bid on that freight and win it for yourself, and that becomes your dedicated lane. It’s great for securing loads.
“It is as easy as possible to book the Transfix loads you need to fill out your schedule — particularly with those that are going to be the most lucrative,” says Nina Zegelbone, a product support specialist at Transfix. “Carriers can book directly: Use a load-board search that says, for instance, ‘I’m looking for loads from New York to Virginia on this day,’ and search that way. You can create a lane alert, which lets you know any time a load comes up that meets those parameters. You can also search for dedicated freight, which is something really special about the program. If Transfix has dedicated freight going in that lane, you can get a regular three loads a week on that exact lane. You can bid on that freight and win it for yourself, and that becomes your dedicated lane. It’s great for securing loads.”
Zegelbone also notes two recently launched features that were designed to add more value and help make the booking experience even easier. “Our team is constantly enhancing FMS to make the booking experience the best it can be based on what carriers need most. Our newest feature shows carriers a list of available loads based on their recent load history, and another where our Carrier Management team can create a list of lanes for a carrier who can then choose to be alerted on loads that come up within those lanes.”
If you have a KeepTruckin account, you can integrate it directly into Transfix FMS, which provides live tracking for all your drivers.
Any time you enter a new load into Transfix FMS, the program will automatically surface any loads that are going to be coming from your destination on your drop-off date, making it easy to find backhaul. And if you have a KeepTruckin account, you can integrate it directly into Transfix FMS, which provides live tracking for all your drivers.
“You can see where loads are at any point in time,” Zegelbone says. “There’s also a map page, very similar to the KeepTruckin interface, where you can see where any of your drivers are. It’s all in one FMS, in one window.”
Additionally, with Fleet View, you get a snapshot of your entire fleet across all loads and drivers in a calendar view. You’ll see a list of drivers on the X axis and days of the week on the Y axis. The program blocks any time your driver is on a load, so you can easily see when they are going to be empty, when they have time, when they’re going to be on a load. You can also click on any of the loads to see the full load details and change the status.
One transparent organizational tool — for free
I’ve heard from many dispatchers that they’re paying a lot of money for similar software. With Transfix FMS, you can manage both Transfix loads and loads from any other broker or any other source.
Transfix FMS is totally free. “It’s something Transfix wanted to do for dispatchers,” Zegelbone says. “I’ve heard from many dispatchers that they’re paying a lot of money for similar software. With Transfix FMS, you can manage both Transfix loads and loads from any other broker or any other source.” It lets you manage everything in one place, and everyone — including the drivers — can update and view the status of each one at any time.
Transfix TMS is the game-changer you need this holiday season and beyond.
Learn more about Transfix FMS.
