FreightWaves Fireside Chat with Casey Monahan: Leveraging Technology for Fleet Growth

Our very own Casey Monahan, VP of Digital Sales at Loadsmart, participated in a fireside chat with FreightWaves during their Small Fleet & Owner-Operator Summit. The conversation centered around different ways that carriers can leverage their partnerships and technology to drive better performance in their networks.

Click here to watch the full video on the FreightWaves' website

Below are some of the highlights from the discussion:

Can you talk a little bit about Loadsmart in general and our partnership?

It can be a little confusing to understand the Loadsmart business as a whole since we play in several different areas. First and foremost, Loadsmart is a digital brokerage. We believe that logistics services go hand in hand with technology, so we also offer cutting-edge shipper and carrier-facing TMS solutions as well as gate and yard management software. From accepting bids from shippers on ShipperGuide or scheduling appointment times on Opendock, we continue to build tools for carriers because they are the lifeblood of Loadsmart and the economy as a whole - especially the small carriers.

When you're working with different technology platforms, how do you ensure that you are engaging with carrier feedback and ensuring that if problems arise they are being fixed with the solutions you're creating today?

Our Carrier TMS platform was built by a carrier for carriers, so we take our carrier partners’ feedback very seriously. In fact, we have a special community where carriers and support staff can talk to each other. Our Insights board offers a space for carriers to write suggested improvements or adjustments they would like to see, and peers can vote up or down, helping inform our product teams’ priorities and help map out possible changes to improve our carrier’s experience. Outside of that, we prioritize having direct connections with our carriers both from a support and a sales team side. We're constantly relaying that to our engineering and product teams, of which make up 40% of the Loadsmart team.

How can data insights start to help carriers make better decisions, from questioning whether to grow their fleets or not, what risks to take, or what markets to enter?

Running a business is hard, but running a trucking business is very very hard. Carriers tend to lack the time to manually gather data from the different tools and platforms they use because they get consumed with all the daily operations they need to manage. Carrier TMS pulls all these pieces of information from siloed areas, platforms, and tools into one window that makes managing their business so easy. Carriers can easily import their ELD, fuel cards, factoring partner, drivers, trucks, and essential documents and records into Carrier TMS to streamline all information and data they hold into one platform. People always say “data is important,” but it is very hard to take data, create insights, and then take action on those when you have scattered data and platforms you use.

Can you tell us about Loadsmart’s approach to growing in this market and adding on things like yard management? Why has Loadsmart grown this way, and why is it important for carriers to understand that the growth strategy is important when looking for partners?

Loadsmart is in a unique position because we handle the full lifecycle of a load - from the shipper, carrier, and scheduling side of things. Additionally we have information from our brokerage, so we have a special view from the Carrier TMS what trucks are available where and when, and we also know where they are going to be because we have the scheduling side of things. Within Carrier TMS carriers can see all their drivers, trucks, which trucks will be empty where, and available loads from Loadsmart and all other load boards and partners that they are subscribed to. We do not just match you with brokerage freight, we find the best load we can for you. This might be from a shipper we know meets the criteria you are searching for.

With Opendock, we know when a truck is scheduled at a warehouse and when they are leaving and are going to be empty. From the brokerage side, we have eight years of historical data of which lanes run where and by what carrier. Having all these angles allows us to find a lot of unique data for both our shippers and carriers to connect.

Learn how Loadsmart's Carrier TMS caters to the needs of smaller fleets in a technology-driven world. Explore all the features of Carrier TMS and sign-up today!