Boosting Operational Success: The Advantages of a TMS and When to Consider an Upgrade
The trucking sector is becoming increasingly competitive. And it's changing fast.
As the industry grows, logistical challenges are becoming more and more complex, and technology has emerged as a game-changer.
Cloud-based technology is transforming how carriers—even small and medium ones—are boosting efficiency, saving time, and cutting costs.
A Transportation Management System specifically built for carriers (also called Trucking Management Software) is a must-have. With features such as driver dispatching, order tracking, and driver communications from a single screen, carriers who deploy a TMS can manage their fleets better and use resources more judiciously.
Toro TMS is one such TMS built specifically for medium asset-based carriers.
When implemented correctly, a TMS solution brings wide-ranging benefits that contribute to operational success for the business.
In this article, we discuss the benefits of a transportation management system and how to recognize the signs that you need to upgrade to an advanced TMS system.
What is a Transportation Management System?
A transportation management system, or TMS, is not just a standalone system—it is a comprehensive platform that provides visibility and control over transportation operations and integrates with other existing systems, such as accounting software and ELDs. .
It centralizes data and makes it available on a cloud-based platform so that users can manage operations from anywhere and on any device. TMS adoption has been increasing every year and Gartner estimates that the TMS market will grow from $1.32 billion to $2.11 billion (from 2019 through 2024).
Toro TMS is a single platform that helps carriers manage their entire transportation operation.
Toro TMS optimizes various aspects of your trucking business, from reduced paperwork and improved compliance to valuable invoice generation and driver settlement reports.
Upgrade to Toro TMS and benefit from its powerful capabilities to help you make informed decisions that drive business growth.
Key Benefits of a TMS
A TMS is a valuable tool for businesses and offers wide-ranging benefits. Let's discuss some of these benefits:
Enhanced Efficiency
When you automate manual processes, it frees your employees to focus on more strategic tasks, such as drumming up new business and improving time to cash collection. It leaves them time and mind space to focus on more value-added tasks that can drive business growth or improve customer experience. Automation also minimizes human intervention in processes and eliminates errors, saving time and improving productivity.
By integrating with 3rd party providers, such as your ELD solution, your TMS also enhances your ability to track shipments or driver locations in real-time.
Cost Savings
With improved efficiencies, you will soon see significant cost reductions. The automated system considers many factors simultaneously, which is almost impossible in manual operations.
Its precise and real-time accounting and invoice capabilities prevent expensive errors such as missed invoices and incorrect billing.
Improved Driver and Customer Service
A TMS allows you to track orders, dispatch, and communicate with drivers from a single screen.
This simplified communication translates into better customer service, higher customer satisfaction scores and happier customers and drivers!
A TMS enables you to send real-time notifications to drivers and back. This means you can handle special instructions or make last-minute adjustments to schedules.
Meeting customer expectations and proactively handling potential issues is a sure way to build customer trust and loyalty and earn returning business.
Better Decision Making
With a TMS, you can track key performance indicators (KPIs) and get real-time reports with data-backed, actionable business insights.
This information helps you identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, or compliance issues and take timely corrective action. The insights assist you in continuously improving transportation strategies and achieving operational efficiencies.
If you are looking to boost operational efficiencies and target business growth, Toro TMS can be an effective and valuable investment.
Reach out to us to schedule a demo today!
Signs It’s Time to Upgrade Your TMS
Have you outgrown your current methods of managing your operational processes?
Whether they are manual, paper-and-pen processes or basic transport dispatch software, specific tell-tale sgns indicate when it's time to upgrade to a more advanced and feature-rich transportation management system.
It's vital to watch out for these signs:
Outdated Technology
If you're currently using older transportation management software or outdated software such as spreadsheets to manage business operations, you may notice that things are getting out of hand!
Either the system you use is too slow and does not have features to keep up with the fast pace of information you need to send out and receive, or your teams cannot keep up the pace as your fleet and drivers increase with time.
Increased Operational Costs
Are you seeing an increasing trend toward higher transportation costs in your operations (not owing to external factors)? It's a sign that your current system isn’t scaling with you and is not longer plugging inefficiencies.
You may be missing out on cost-saving opportunities because you don't have access to real-time data or visibility across your operations. Without an automated system, the potential for costly errors increases.
Poor Visibility and Reporting
Can you access real-time reports about orders, driver location and pending invoices?
If you are struggling with manual data collation and reports that are not real-time or near-time, then it's a sign that you are not leveraging the best technology on the market.
And without best-in-class technology, you are unlikely to be able to efficiently manage drivers, identify bottlenecks, or proactively manage exceptions.
It's time to upgrade to a more advanced TMS that enables real-time alerts, instant messaging between drivers, managers and clients, and detailed reports about cargo and vehicles across different locations.
Difficulty in Integrating with Other Systems
Is your current system unable to integrate with your company's other technology systems for finance and accounting? That's a clear sign that you need a TMS upgrade!
This is not the age for standalone systems that operate in silos. You need a comprehensive TMS platform that can exchange data with other systems to give you a holistic picture of your operations and allow you to make the right decisions to keep your business flourishing.
An advanced, cloud-based TMS enables the seamless exchange of information across various systems, improving overall efficiency and helping you make smarter business decisions.
Reap the Benefits of an Upgraded System with Toro
Toro TMS brings you all the benefits of an advanced transportation management system.
It's an all-in-one solution that covers front-office dispatch workflows with back-office processes, such as invoicing and payments.
It also provides detailed reports with data-backed business insights that drive efficiency and enable smarter decision-making.
Reach out to Toro TMS today for a demo and put your company on the leading edge of transportation management technology!
