How Does Real-Time Location Data Improve Freight Operations?

If you run a trucking and freight company, a key piece of your freight operations is knowing where your trucks are and if shipments are on time or delayed. Innovative solutions, like real-time tracking have the potential to upgrade your freight operations and improve the level of customer service you can provide. Freight companies that are asking — how does real-time location data improve freight operations — may be able to get the answers they need right here at TenTrucks.

5 Ways Real-Time Tracking Improves Freight Operations

Real-time location data and tracking capabilities provide a number of key benefits for trucking and freight companies when integrated with your Transportation Management System (TMS). The increased visibility of fleet trucks and shipments allows you to be more proactive in multiple facets — both in adjusting routes for traffic or weather and communicating potential delays with your customers. Real-time tracking promotes efficiency and leads to long-term success and profitability for trucking and freight companies.

Here is a better look at five ways real-time tracking and location data will improve freight operations for your trucking business:

1. Proactive Route Optimization

When your Transportation Management System possesses real-time tracking capabilities, it allows you to be more proactive with your route optimization. Dispatchers and fleet managers can monitor traffic patterns and potential delays in real time and provide drivers with alternative routes. This can help prevent delayed deliveries, reduce fuel costs, and reduce wear and tear on fleet trucks. 

2. Improved Load Management

Larger fleets may find it difficult to organize and manage loads. The added benefit of real-time tracking and location data gives dispatchers a crystal clear view of where shipments are and potential delivery times. With access to this detailed information in real time, dispatchers can anticipate delays and adjust load management to ensure shipments arrive at their destinations on time and meet the expectations of their customers. 

3. Improved Accountability and Management of Fleet Assets

It is not always easy for trucking companies to manage fleet assets and maximize profits. Real-time tracking — with integrations like Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) — allows dispatchers and fleet managers to closely monitor the performance and condition of their fleet assets. Armed with this detailed information, fleet managers can ensure that trucks are used optimally and that they minimize downtime for fleet vehicles. 

4. Improved Customer Satisfaction

Not only does real-time location data of fleet shipments allow dispatchers to be proactive in how they optimize routes, it allows them to be proactive in how they communicate with customers. Transparent location data provided by dispatchers or visible to customers keeps them informed on the status and location of their cargo. This added insight and proactive communication can help trucking and freight companies build long-term and successful relationships with their customers, which directly contributes to profitability. 

5. Improved Decision Making

Real-time location data for freight companies helps dispatchers and fleet managers make more informed decisions about shipment delays and route changes. When dispatchers have an exact location for trucks, they can make smarter decisions about route changes and do it faster than if they have to rely on periodic, manual updates from drivers. This key data provided by a Transportation Management System with real-time tracking also allows dispatchers to discover inefficiencies or patterns that impact freight operations — like consistent delays at a specific drop-off point. 

READ MORE: What Is the ROI for a Transportation Management System in Trucking?

Are you interested in learning how real-time location data can improve freight operations? This overview created by TenTrucks may provide the answers you are looking for and highlights how the real-time tracking capabilities of a Transportation Management System — like TenTrucks TMS — has the potential to improve your fleet operations. 

Contact TenTrucks today to learn more about the TenTrucks TMS platform!