It’s that time of year where gifts are on everyone’s mind. We’re thinking about what to buy for others, but maybe this year, it’s time to buy yourself a gift. And what’s a better gift for an owner-operator and family than a trucking software program that takes care of the family trucking business?

Family Trucking Businesses Need Software

Many small owner-operators use their family members to keep track of the business. They keep track of the invoices, the IFTA and IRP payments, and expenses. It’s the key to keeping a trucker on the road and making money to be able to track cash flow. That one factor is the difference between failure and success. If a business doesn’t know where it’s making money and where it’s losing money, it can’t succeed.

We know that a lot of truckers are putting a bunch of different products together to try to make a trucking software system that will work for a trucker. That’s because

• most accounting software can’t do IFTA and IRP reports.
• dispatching and routing (map software) are different platforms that can’t talk to each other.
• driver settlements aren’t always based on time – mileage matters more – so time tracking software is useless. (Let’s not even mention detention pay!)
• maintenance records and maintenance scheduling don’t work together because mileage dictates certain tasks and timing determines others.

So some truckers try to put together their own spreadsheets and export to QuickBooks. Routings are done by Google Maps, which give total mileage per trip, but not per state. So then they track the mileage per state and have to upload all of it into a stand-alone IFTA program.

Working Harder Than You Need?

Let’s just look at the accounting process for trucking.

Once a load has been accepted from a load board or broker, a dispatch has to be created in the accounting system. That dispatch has to include the routing, mileage, fuel costs, expenses – deductible and not – and miles per state for IFTA and IRP.

QuickBooks ain’t gonna cut it. They simply don’t have a report or function for the mileage or the routes. Nor should they – they’re a software package developed for accountants, not truckers. (In fact, TruckingOffice has a number of accountants for trucking companies that use our platform because QuickBooks cannot!)

Trying to adapt a program to do what you need it to do in a family trucking business is like trying to cut a piece of wood when you don’t have a saw but you do have a drill. Eventually, you’ll get there, but you’ll have to work a lot harder to make it work.

Doesn’t your family trucking business deserve the benefit of using a tool that works for them, instead of making them work harder?

The Gift of Freedom (and Time and Money)

Sometimes the trucker doesn’t realize how much work goes on at home to keep them on the road.

The time that a family member spends at home managing the books isn’t a couple of hours here and there. There’s a lot of work per load, and it’s not just about the billing. Being organized and ready for the unexpected audit or the on-the-road emergency – the people at home aren’t protected from the worry or the stress when things go sideways.

Giving your family trucking business the gift of a trucking software package isn’t just giving them time back in their lives. The right software package gives them freedom from the anxiety of

• messing up the books
• sending out the wrong routing or dispatch info
• filing the wrong numbers for the IFTA or IRP tax filings (and the risk of fines and penalties).

Sure, we get it. Trucking software looks optional. It looks like something that you don’t need right away. A purchase you can push off for a while.

Is it something that can wait?

Trucking software isn’t a purchase. It’s an investment in time and money. When the money is properly managed, then people are not scrambling because there isn’t enough. When time is properly respected, people are free from anxiety. When you manage both well, that means you’re on the path to growth. You can take pride in what you’ve built and what you’ve done.

Doing the work

Family trucking businesses require people who are committed to doing the work. It’s not just on the road and in the delivery dock. All of the work behind the trucker is just as hard. When it’s a family member who might not understand all the complications of trucking, finances can go bad fast and hurt the family as well as the business.

This is why we think that this year’s gift to your family trucking business is the trucking software that handles all of it. Whether your trucker is a solo shop or an extended family with several truckers on the road, you need software that will take care of business.

TruckingOffice is that software. We make the difference for thousands of other truckers and family trucking businesses across North America. Our program was designed by a trucker who understands the transportation industry. We know the importance of your business to you and want to help you find the time to spend with your family at home while you support them on the road.

All the parts are here.

• dispatches and routing
• invoice management
• maintenance tracking and scheduling
• driver information and settlements
• trucking business reports
• IFTA and IRP computations/reports.

Organize your family trucking business with TruckingOffice trucking software and discover the freedom of time and money it will give you. You won’t have to worry about audits. You’ll manage your rig and equipment to prevent expensive emergency repairs. That’s the gift you give to yourself when you use TruckingOffice.

Our Gift To You

In the US, December is the month of giving. So give TruckingOffice to yourself and your family this year. Sign up for our free trial now and you’ll get the rest of 2021 to examine our entire software program – from dispatch to IFTA filing report – to discover the freedom of the road and at home! And when we say “free” we mean it. No credit card, no debit card, no checking account numbers are needed to sign up and try TruckingOffice for free. Sign up today and have a happy holiday on us!