Digital Tools Help Truck Drivers Manage Expenses, Spend More Time Driving

This year is likely to be a good one for trucking businesses.

Industry sources expect higher freight volume, growing demand for short hauls, a focus on reducing detention, increases in digital load booking, falling fuel costs, improvements in supply chain processes, and rising refrigerated freight rates and demand, according to a January blog post by logistics FinTech RoadSync.

For truckers on the road, though, that adds up to a lot more paperwork. They’re constantly transacting with other businesses, scheduling jobs and making or receiving payments from warehouses, brokers, repair shops, towing companies and others. The time they spend invoicing, receiving payments and keeping records is time they don’t spend driving.

Half of the drivers surveyed by RoadSync, for instance, reported that they work with a new shipper, carrier or broker every week, so they must spend time interacting with different payment platforms and preferences.

To help boost the speed, accuracy and efficiency of these transactions, several companies offer digital tools that turn truck drivers’ mobile devices into payment solutions.

For its part, RoadSync rolled out a new expense management app for truck drivers this week, according to a press release. Dubbed RoadSync Driver, it supports seamless payments and equips drivers with tools that help them manage expenses, digitize paper trails and streamline communication.

Maintaining Efficiency and Profit Margins

Another solution provider, Trucker Tools, offers a free driver app designed to make life easier for both truckers and the brokers who pay them. The app provides real-time visibility of the truck’s location, document upload capabilities, digital freight matching and automated load booking.

Because the driver app automatically prompts the carrier to upload the needed documents upon arrival at the receiver’s facility, paperwork is reduced, and payment is speeded up for both the broker and the carrier.

Truckstop.com, too, offers an app that enables carriers to take control of how and when they get paid. Its Truckstop Pay app enables drivers to book and deliver loads, submit paperwork to the broker, get a confirmation email from the broker and receive an automated clearing house (ACH) payment into their bank account.

Delayed checks, calls to brokers and hidden fees are common challenges for truck drivers that can be solved with digital payments, Truckstop.com said.

Record-Keeping With Photo Receipts

Bookkeeping and accounting is another part of the job, and another player called Young And Healthy Marketing offers a Truckers Expense Reports App that makes it easier. In the trucking industry, the company explained, company drivers must track personal expenses and owner-operators must track business expenses.

The Truckers Expense Reports App facilitates this record-keeping by enabling drivers to post expenses with photo receipts, view expense report summaries and share their business balance sheet by email or download to Excel.

Financing to Meet the Demands of eCommerce

The demand for solutions for the trucking industry was illustrated by the Jan. 24 announcement that BasicBlock, a FinTech that provides financing for the industry, had completed a $78 million debt and equity raise.

Read more: Truck Financing FinTech BasicBlock Raises $78M

The company began as a trucking document capture tool that lets drivers scan and send load documents and has since evolved to become a payment platform for carriers.

“Ninety-six percent of commercial trucking companies in the U.S. have less than six trucks, and one of their biggest pain points is access to capital,” BasicBlock CEO and Co-Founder Tayor Monks said.