If you’re a long distance trucker, an owner-operator, or a small fleet builder, here’s a question you have to have the answer to. (We hope the answer is TruckingOffice.)
Who has your IFTA data?
Why do we ask who has your IFTA data?
Because many times, the answer is “the free IFTA program I saw online.”
Is it free? Is it really?
Let’s talk about this for a minute.
If you’re not the customer, you’re the product.
In order to use a “free” product on line, you’re providing that website with a lot of data. A truckload of data, including your trips, clues to your routes, the time you spent in a location, how much you paid for fuel… That’s just the start of it.
So now this company has your email. You had better expect them to sell it, because it’s almost certainly going to happen. Email lists are sold all the time. Why else do we get all that spam? When you give away your email address, you’re effectively giving them the key code to your front door.
Statistically, you are more likely to open an email than you are to click on a link for more details on a website. So giving your email is extremely valuable to them. They’re going to sell it.
Your IFTA data is the gateway to your front door. Are you good with that?
Cookies aren’t so sweet
Since the European Union passed the GBPR (General Data Protection Regulation), you may have noticed that websites are asking permission to put cookies on your computer. Cookies sound so innocent, right? But cookies are the records on our computers of where we’ve been. Those are tasty little bits of information about you. Your preferences, the websites you visited, the information you requested. Essentially, the story of your life online.
They say it’s so we can get better internet experiences. Passwords, preferences, and private data are all kept in cookies.
Here’s the deal. A website can download your cookies to learn all about you.
Have you ever had this happen to you? You think “I need a new seat cover” and you do a quick search online for seat covers. Then you’re inundated with seat cover ads for the next week.
That’s why cookies are so valuable. I’ve been to a website that sells seat covers. Then maybe I’ll be interested in some other product that I’ve never thought of owning. All a business has to do is tell Google or some other ad service to find people who looked for truck seat covers and BAM! I’m gonna get spam for products that I don’t know anything about. I’m going to see unending ads for back supports, seat cushions, and steering wheel covers.
Are You Okay with Sharing Your IFTA Data?
Those so-called free IFTA computing programs are getting a LOT of data about you and trucking business. You’re giving it to them? Are you okay with them getting your IFTA data?
If you have problems with that, then maybe you shouldn’t depend on them.
Maybe you don’t care. Privacy may not be an issue for you. That’s up to you. Then let’s talk efficiency.
Is Your Time Free?
Have you ever counted up how many different details you have to track to file IFTA and be confident that the tax amount is correct?
- How many states did you drive through?
- How many places did you buy fuel?
- How many miles per state?
Those free IFTA computation websites require you to type in all of those details. All of them. Correctly.
How much time is that, anyway?
It’s been a tough quarter for truckers. Rates are down and plenty of truckers are parking rather than taking loads at a loss. (Good for you, knowing your value!) So why would you want to waste time entering and checking all those numbers?
TruckingOffice PRO knows your IFTA data and gives it to you in seconds without a single extra keystroke.
- When you enter a dispatch, you create a route with PC*Miler.
- When you enter a fuel purchase, you’re also entering the fuel taxes you pay.
- When you enter your mileage records, your fuel tax amounts are immediately computed at the current rates.
Your IFTA data is automatically accessed from every other part of the TruckingOffice PRO program. No extra keystrokes. We don’t sell your data. No one is going to have access to your information.
IFTA data in the wind vs. accurate IFTA report in seconds? Which one do you want?
TruckingOffice keeps your data safe, secure, and ready when you need it.
So try TruckingOffice PRO today for free.
Free IFTA reporting on a website? Isn’t that just what I said you shouldn’t do?
TruckingOffice PRO isn’t a free IFTA computation program. It does much, much more. Use TruckingOffice PRO to run your entire owner-operator or small truck fleet trucking business.
- Dispatches
- Routes
- Invoices
- IFTA and IRP reports
- Trucking business reports
- Maintenance records and scheduling that meets FMSCA and DOT audit requirements.
Our free trial will give you the time to enter last quarter’s data and get an accurate IFTA report to file. So the entire program is free during the trial, including the IFTA report. You can sign up now, take care of your IFTA filing, and discover what a complete trucking management software program can do for you. Give us a try now!
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