Have you ever stopped to think about how much technology has changed the working world and your personal life? How did trucking companies and brokers find loads and get paid before there was technology to help?
Go back about 30 years when people didn’t have the internet. Mobile phones were giant and only allowed 30 minutes of talk-time, plus they cost close to $4,000. Much of the industry relied on phones, bulletin boards, mail, and fax machines.
Smartphones wouldn’t become a thing until the mid-1990s, but they still were not embraced until 3G came out later, closer to 2000. Plus, 4G and the first 4G smartphones were about ten years away still. The iPhone was the real game-changer, but that wouldn’t happen until 2007. Along the way, trucking companies had to find loads somehow, but there were other ways that happened. It all started with a system known as Dial-A-Truck that led the way to save time finding loads.
The History Behind the Technology That Helps Trucking Firms
Dial-A-Truck was one way that companies found loads to haul. In the 1970s, many companies relied on bulletin boards where they’d pin an opening on the load board and hope someone took it.
By 1978, Dial-A-Truck was formed in Portland, Oregon, as a way for truckers to view loads in real-time on a digital monitor. These monitors became an effective way for truckers in that area to find loads. Soon, several other trucks in Washington, Oregon, and California added these monitors.
The Dial-A-Truck monitors were found in truck stops across the country by 1985, and drivers and shippers could subscribe to find loads or offer their services. Dial-A-Truck, which became DAT Services in 1989, is still around, but times have changed a lot as the internet took center stage.
As 1995 rolled around, satellites made it possible to transmit data. Truckers, shippers, and brokers could subscribe to DAT and get real-time loads over satellites. Within two more years, dial-up modem connections were possible, making it easy for haulers to get data on their PC in their office or at home.
With all of this technology, your trucking company can have as much work as you want. You’re able to track where your drivers are, and you can do so much more. Many companies have access to trucking and factoring apps and software that helps with hauling and finding loads. It also ensures they get paid on time. With the right trucking industry apps, you have the world at your fingertips, which frees up time to spend with friends and family.
How Does Technology Help With Freight Factoring?
That helps with hauling, but what can technology do for companies that rely on freight factoring to get paid immediately? Technology can help companies get paid quickly, even on the same day in some situations. Check out some of the options you have when you partner with Saint John Capital
Click & Pay API
Just a couple of decades ago, you’d have to wait for your drivers to return to your office with the bill of lading. Once you had it in hand, you’d have to create an invoice from the bills of lading you’d gathered and mail, fax, or hand-deliver the invoice to a freight factoring company to get paid. Payment would have to be wired, or a check would be mailed or hand-delivered. At this point, the company would have to go to the bank to deposit that check. It could take days or weeks for the payment to actually hit a savings or checking account.
Today, Click & Pay API simplifies this. When your drivers get the bill of lading (BOL) after picking up a shipment, they can send you a photo of the BOL. You upload it to Saint John Capital through the Click & Pay API. You no longer have to create and submit an invoice. We do it for you. Once our software creates the invoice, you can upload an invoice to QuickBooks or whatever accounting software you use.
With this system, it’s possible to get paid the same day. You have the money quickly and can put it towards fill-ups, truck repairs, wages, bills, and even surprise gatherings for your crew. Imagine how much easier it is to run your business when you’re not waiting weeks or months to get paid!
Find Loads
To make money, you need to have work. Saint John Capital’s Find Loads software provides millions of loads in real-time that you can look up by the state. It’s mobile-friendly software for Android and iOS devices. There’s no contract, no hidden fees, and no limits on the number of users. Plus, you can run a free credit check of brokers before you accept a load.
Suppose your driver is hauling a load from Chicago to Boston. Returning from Boston back to Chicago with an empty truck is not cost-effective. Instead, use the mobile app to find loads. Search for jobs that require hauling from Boston to somewhere in or near Chicago. You’re doubling the money made on that trip. You no longer have to worry about deadhead miles and can look for higher-paying loads to ensure you’re making a profit.
Track Loads
What if you have a driver on the road and your client calls to get an estimated delivery time. Use the track loads feature to find out where the driver is. With GPS tracking, you’ll always know if you have a driver stuck in traffic, delayed due to weather-related road closures, etc.
With the load tracking app from Saint John Capital, you benefit from having proof of delivery and confirmation of pick-up on your Android or iOS device. The mobile app allows you to assign drivers to a load and use virtual dispatching to save time and money.
Visa Banking App
Apply for a Saint John Capital Visa card and use the banking app for 24/7 account access. Day or night, you can transfer funds, check recent charges to make sure everything is legit, and see if money deposited to that Visa card came through. You never have to wait for business hours to check your account. It’s always accessible.
Are You Tired of Waiting for Payments?
Like many people, you don’t have time to wait weeks or months for your shippers or brokers to pay you. When you get the electricity bill, phone bill, or heating oil/gas bill, the company doesn’t give you 90 days to pay them. At most, you have a month. If you’re late, you’ll get hit with late fees and threats of disconnections. When you have bills to pay, it’s unreasonable to allow your clients to take months to pay what’s owed. With Saint John Capital by your side, you’ll get paid immediately.
What’s keeping you from using the services of a freight factoring expert? Are you like many trucking companies who think freight factoring is expensive? It’s not. We factor your trucking invoices for as little as 1%. You’re not obligated to factor all of your invoices with us. Pick and choose the brokers and shippers you want us to factor, and your team can invoice and wait for payments from the clients you prefer to do on your own.
Saint John Capital provides free credit checks of brokers and shippers, lines of credit, and a Visa debit card that you can use to save on fuel. Sign up today and start getting paid what’s owed in very little time.
