How To Develop Your Own Truck Dispatch Software?

The Truck industry is known for its freedom and adventure and for this reason, a lot of people are drawn towards this industry. You needn’t be a professional driver to be a part of this industry. Every industry is expanding itself and finding its way to online platforms, the truck industry is no exception. If you are someone who wants to establish a career in the truck industry, you might consider the option of being a dispatcher, running your own truck dispatching business. To build your business, you will need efficient truck dispatch software. Click here for Truck Dispatch Software. Apart from this, you will also need good communication skills, knowledge of local routes, and the ability to make quick decisions and work under pressure.

Role of a Dispatcher

So, what is the job of a dispatcher? The dispatcher is the bridge between drivers and the customers. The dispatcher ensures that the freight is reaching its right place at the right time. The dispatcher also handles all the work involved while delivering. This work ranges from cargo pick-up to final drop-off. Apart from this, he must fulfill the transport company’s obligation by looking after the safety of the individual truckers. For this, one should be aware of all the rules and regulations of the truckers. Disregarding the rules come with consequences ranging from fines to revocation of the operator’s license.

Why Build Truck Dispatch Software?

To know why you should invest in this field, you need to understand the problems faced by the drivers, customers and shippers without proper dispatching software. Let us discuss their problems here briefly.

Problems faced by the drivers

There is a problem in truck management despite the availability of various software. It is these problems that cause huge losses to the company. Drivers are the link connecting the shippers and the customers. They are responsible for delivering the cargo on time and meeting the targets of the shippers. With huge responsibility on them, drivers are often met with several problems. There is constant confusion on the number of deliveries that should be done in a day. They often find it difficult to navigate to their destination and keep track of payments from the customers. There is no single place for them with a list of tasks that need to be executed. While building your own truck dispatch software, focus on finding solutions to these problems.

Problems faced by the shippers

There are two major challenges faced by shippers or truck owners. These are middlemen and empty returning trucks. According to the old model, it is not possible to fill a truck on its return. One should wait for an appropriate order to load it. The more the waiting time, the higher the maintenance costs. The system of middlemen always existed in the trucking industry. They help in continuing the supply chain process seamlessly. They act as a bridge between customers and the trucking companies. But, they charge way too much for their services. So, there is a need for truck dispatch software to bridge the gap between truckers, drivers and shippers, eliminating the need for a middleman. The software you build should establish a direct connection to the supply chain. This would lower the expenses and help in improving visibility for your business.

Uses of Truck Dispatch Software

The truck dispatch software system will have the important functionalities to manage fleets. This is a solution that helps small, medium as well as large trucking companies. A well-built dispatch software will benefit the driver, customer and dispatcher. The dispatch software helps with scheduling deliveries for each driver, track the status of the vehicle, track the fuel use, sending notifications about the delivery or pick up to both the drivers and the customers and so much more. In addition to this, the software will help with tracking the maintenance of the vehicle, efficiency of the driver, oil change, improving delivery time and maximizing the efficiency while working on the feedback. All in all, you should build a software system that integrates with mobile apps.

How to develop truck dispatch software?

The software will eliminate the intermediaries that reduce the brokerage commission. The software creates a direct link between customers and drivers. The process of documentation to avail services gets eliminated. The software will make the whole process of pick-up and delivery faster and efficient. Also, with digitalisation, this software is the need of the hour.

Before starting with developing your software, look at other companies in the industry and learn from them. Look at other models. To develop a truck dispatch software, you will need to work on driver’s app, trucker app, customer app and admin dashboard. The software joins all these dots in an app and makes sure that they remain the same. Here is a list of some key features that you should focus on while developing your truck dispatch software.

Features for the Drivers

The job of the driver is to accept the order, select the best route, navigate to the route on time, deliver their services and collect payment. You should design software that covers all these aspects. The driver should first create his profile and upload important documents on the app. He should be able to receive order requests. There should be a choice for the drivers to accept or decline any request. If they accept the order, there should be an in-built navigating tool to guide them to the particular location in a fast and efficient way. There should be an option to mark their availability. Along with these features, the driver should be given a chance to cancel trips in emergencies, manage his payments, check the consignment details of every customer and schedule future bookings. There should also be an hour logging system for the drivers to record their hours of work.

Features for the Truckers

Your software should satisfy and address the problems of the Truckers. The truckers should have access to the Driver profile. They should be able to manage their freight orders along with cargo type, size and other details. There should be an in-built messaging and calling option to stay in touch with the consumer and the driver. Along with this, there should be an in-built navigation system that gives them real-time traffic updates and recommends the shortest routes. They should have an option to accept or decline truck loading requests. There should also be a push notification feature to deliver important messages on time. The software should be able to produce clear details of the delivery and should provide an invoice for every consignment.

Features for the Customers

The job of the customer is to place orders and receive them. Just like drivers, they need to sign in to the app with basic information like their contact details, email-id, name. Once the customer places their order, there should be real-time information to help them get details of their order. They should be able to contact the driver or the trucker through an in-app messaging feature. Once they place an order, there should be details about the estimated fare and estimated time of arrival. Apart from this, the app should let them schedule their pick-up or delivery and offer multiple payment options. In the end, there should be an option for them to rate their experience. This will help you in knowing your customers’ opinion about your services.  

Features of the admin dashboard

The role of the admin is to integrate the drivers, the truckers and the customers. They should be able to monitor each driver and trucker. The admin dashboard should manage the payroll, look at the fuel consumption and create an invoice for every order. Apart from these features, there should be a complaint management system, trip history management system, user and driver management system along with feedback management.

Building your own software is not an easy task. For the business to be profitable, you need strong software. You can click here for Truck Dispatch Software and make the process hassle-free.

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Author
Hermit Chawla is an MD at AIS Technolabs which is a Web design and Development Company, helping global businesses to grow by Android Tablet Development Company. I would love to share thoughts on Social Media Marketing Services and Game Design Development etc.

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