Does Your Trucking Business Come to a Stop for Paperwork?

For most owner operators, paperwork is the worst part of the job.  Trying to keep up with all the required records for the government and getting my billing out and the money into my pocket took a lot more effort than I ever expected.  Do you feel that way too? Is organizing your trucking office a huge chore?  We never felt finished – until TruckingOffice Pro.

It’s way too easy to put things off.  But the problems caused by postponing this work, even if we’ve got more loads to haul to make more money.

Plenty of us used other people to help us manage this part.

• A bookkeeper to take care of the accounting
• A representative to find us loads.
• A good mechanic to maintain records – and our trucks.

If you want to pay people to do these tasks for you, that’s fine.  But you’ll need to find the best paying loads to make enough!

How to Organize Your Trucking Business

With Paper?

• Billing:  There are plenty of ways to organize paper files, if that’s what you want.  You can put a month’s worth together – all trip documents, the bills of lading, fuel receipts, invoices and copies of checks together.  When it comes time to figure out IFTA payments, everything’s in three files.   Three very big files.
• Customers:  Do you organize by name?  by state?  If you handle LTL, do you organize another way?  If you’re looking for a customer who you want to haul for again, how do you find them?
• Maintenance Records:  With only one truck, keeping track of repairs could be as simple as keeping a notebook and listing all of the work with the date it was done.  It may be difficult to find a record of something several months back – you’ll have to look at each page to try to find it.  Alternatively, you could keep records by some other system:  engine, cab, tires, trailer…

Not now.  The power of the 21st century organization is that we’re no longer dependent on paper.  Instead of three hard-to-manage file folders that have to be sorted every time you’re looking for a single document, we can keep all that material stored online.

For example, you’re looking for a BOL from a delivery.  You don’t remember the date, but you know the company name?  Easy to find with a computer search.

Need to find your warranty for your brake lines?  You can search your maintenance records by hand, going back through multiple files by date.  Or search for “brake lines” in your maintenance records online and get it in seconds.

Welcome to the 21st Century

There are probably some people who come into the industry and expect it to be all paper.  They plan to mail bills of lading, and send paper invoices.  It’s how business used to run.  But no more.

I don’t imagine that any young trucker – especially one with a smart phone – thinks that.

Computer programs and apps may look confusing.  People might think there’s a long learning curve.  Depending on the program, there may be.  Or they look for a phone app that will do it all – for free.  (You get what you pay for.)

The smart owner-operator shouldn’t be satisfied with different programs to manage invoices, maintenance, and IFTA or IRP payments.

What would your ideal trucking management software do for you?

• Easy to learn and use.
• Portable – it will work in my cab, not just at my desk.
• One time entry – no duplicating information for IFTA here and IRP there.
• Produces government tax reports accurately and quickly.
• Handles the billing online and shows financial reports that apply to trucking businesses.

TruckingOffice PRO made managing my trucking business much easier because it took those tasks off my mind.

How to Organize Your Trucking Business?

Join the 21st century and recognize that paper is obsolete.  Find the processes you need to simplify running your trucking business.  That first thought – organize invoices, customers, and maintenance – is a good one.  But when there’s a system that already works that’s available to you now, why would you try to reinvent the wheel?

Use TruckingOffice PRO.  It’s that simple.  Then you can get back to business.

Not sure yet?  Try our no-risk free trial.  We’ll give you a chance to explore all of what TruckingOffice PRO has to offer.  You’ll discover that you can get organized and build a successful trucking business far easier than you expect.