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Trucking Company IT Systems: Deliveries / Bookings, Fleet / Vehicle and Driver Management |
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The basic required information on a daily basis for a road haulage company (or transport company) is often simply a list of deliveries scheduled for that week. New ones can be added to next week's sheet ready. Microsoft Word or Excel is often used for this, which works in a basic sort of way but has various problems compared to an purpose built IT system / software solution including the following:
- Not multi-user - A Word document or Excel spreadsheet can only be edited by one person at a time, so this is a pain unless the company is very small and only one person needs to access and update the information.
- Same information entered multiple times - It is a pain having to keep enter the same information such as customer name and address. Yes it can be copy and pasted but this is still not a great way to work, there is potential for mistakes and it can be difficult to locate the required information.
- Inconsistent, unstructured and random approach to information management - people add information in their own way and the overall effect can be a difficult to understand, error-ridden mess.
The basic information for a delivery company to manage is roughly as follows:
- Vehicle Management - lorry / truck / van details, registration plate (also called fleet management)
- Delivery Scheduling - delivery / assignment information, customer name / address / phone, scheduled time for delivery, what is to be delivered, which vehicle will be used, who will be driving (cf dispatch software)
- Driver management - driver info, name, mobile number etc.
The ideal way to manage this information is with a simple company-wide database and a basic custom software application (often referred to as trucking software, delivery software, haulage software or dispatch software). With an IT system / bespoke software solution there is no problem with several people accessing or updating the information at once (as there is with Excel for example). Information only has to be entered once (e.g. "driver" could be picked from a drop-down list) and information is displayed and available in a consistent and clear way. Data is also more secure and can be reliably backed up. Other advantages are:
- Management Reports can be produced at the touch of a button, e.g. "Deliveries for This Week", "All Deliveries for Customer Abc" etc. Try getting that information form a bunch of haphazard Excel spreadsheets!
- Fast Access - information can be searched for. E.g. "show me all deliveries to customer Abc over 3 months ago".
- Less Training - new staff need far less training on a clear, consistent and standards-based system.
Example Trucking Software
Screenshots of real trucking / transport software as used by a road haulage / logistics company in the UK. Private client information has been blurred out. Click on images to enlarge.
This IT system consists of bespoke software and a database and was made specially for this particular distribution company. It is quite simple but is exactly what they needed being relatively small. The software is used from each staff members computer and the data is stored in a central database in the office. This integrated software was designed and installed completely remotely, the IT company did not need to set foot in the haulage company's office.
Procuring a Delivery Management System
So how would you go about getting such a delivery software system? Well, two ways. Buy one "off-the-shelf" or get one built specially for you (bespoke software). For the former do a search on Google and if you find something that fits your needs well, then give it a trial. Be aware though that to set up ANY multi-user system in a company will require some expert IT knowledge, so if you do find packaged delivery software to do the job check with your IT support person / company that it suits your current IT set-up and that they are happy with installing it. The second option is getting a system custom-made. This is not actually that difficult, all that is needed is:
- a database (use an open-source, i.e. free, one e.g. Firebird or PostgreSQL are very good, avoid Access as it's not as good)
- a software application to view / add / update the information and generate reports.
A software development company can provide this to your exact requirements so there will be no unused features, and by using a highly-tailored unique system you can achieve a competitive advantage. Either way, a dedicated delivery scheduling / trucking software / dispatch software system whether packaged or bespoke is far better than Excel or Word for all but the smallest transport companies.
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20 March 2010
Paul Rigby works for Awgar Stone Ltd as a director, software developer and consultant and has been advising on and producing information management / database solutions to various industries (including the distribution / logistics industry) for over 10 years.
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