Looking for trucking software apps for your smartphone?  A lot of owner-operators think that the newest tech is probably the best.  It seems logical to look for an app on the Apple Store or the Google Play if you want to use your phone to manage your trucking business.  But there are reasons that TruckingOffice PRO won’t be found there – and you’re the reason why.

We’ve even gotten some calls from people who want a TruckingOffice app.

We see the appeal:  a one-time purchase that will allow you to update and manage your trucking business from a smartphone or tablet.  Looking at some of the apps, the price listed is FREE.  What they don’t tell you is that while the phone app is free, the service isn’t.  You’ve got to look deeper at trucking software apps to see exactly what you’re getting – and what you’re not.

What Should Trucking Software Apps Have?

From our perspective, an trucking software should have these basic capabilities:

• Dispatches created
• Invoices created, sent and tracked
• Mileage by state per load

That’s just the bare minimum.  A trucking management software that doesn’t do the bare minimum isn’t worth the money, even if it’s free.

Extras might include

• Payments tracked, including past due payments
• Fuel purchases by state
• IFTA, IRP reports
• Maintenance records and scheduling.

Is that enough?

You might think so.  We here at TruckingOffice PRO like a few extra bells and whistles in our PRO version, like

• PC*Miler to create the best routes and track the mileage automatically
• FileSafe™ to upload and send bill of lading images to speed up billing
• Unique trucking business reports showing how your business is doing.

Plus we’ve got a great customer management database to help you remember your best clients and keep in touch.  We’ve got a way to transfer your data to QuickBooks if your accountant wants it.  TruckingOffice PRO can grow with you as your fleet grows.

Where Is Your Data?

The one thing you have to be confident about is your data inside any trucking software apps.  Is your business data secure and in a format that you can use for other purposes?  Is it only kept on your phone?

What happens if your phone takes a dive?

Suppose your phone goes into water?  Or you lose your phone or it gets damaged in any way?  If your data isn’t stored in the cloud in a secure system, then it’s gone.  You’ll need backups.  You need to be able to access it while you let your phone dry out (and hoping you don’t have to buy another!) to get paid for your loads.

Don’t invest in a cheap trucking software app that can’t manage everything you need now, much less what you’ll need when you grow.

ELD On Your Phone

If you’re looking for a trucking software app, you probably already know that you need an ELD (electronic log for drivers) for your trucking business.

TruckingOffice offers a great ELD for you that has two great benefits.

1.  It links to your phone.  Instead of having to deal with spare equipment or having to deal with awkward downloads upon demand, all you have to do is use your phone or tablet to get your trucking HOS report.  We know that there are truckers who worry about security.  We’ve managed that problem for you.
2. It links to our TruckingOffice PRO trucking software.  No need to call in with the TruckingOffice ELD and TMS program.  They talk to each other.  A dispatch created in the office or back home is sent via the ELD system with the information that the driver needs for the next pick up or delivery.  No more missed messages with TruckingOffices’ combined systems.
3. IFTA and IRP:  you do not want to pay a penny more or less than you owe for IFTA or IRP.  By using the mileage repots, you can be sure that your IFTA report is correct to the penny.  Same with the IRP.  After all, it’s the same numbers.  We’ve simplified the process for you.  The dispatch created starts the process of tracking your mileage.  You add in your fuel purchases and you have the exact numbers without doing a single extra moment of data entry to get the IFTA report you need.  No need to re-enter data into another program.  No need to worry about wasting more time on IRP.  Instead of being tasks that take you off the road, you can take care of these annoyances in your cab!

TruckingOffice TMS and ELD

All those things we mentioned above, TruckingOffice PRO and TruckingOffice ELD do right now.  It’s accessible wherever you have a WIFI signal and on your desktop computer at home.  You won’t have to worry about accessibility or the state of your smartphone (or which state you may have left it in after lunch yesterday.)  Everything you need is always available – you’ll never have to worry about updates.  We take care of that for you in a way that you’ll maybe never even notice.

We’ll even give you a free trial to discover all that you can do with TruckingOffice Trucking Management Software – on the phone, on a tablet or at your desk.  You might not want an app when you see what our powerful program can do right now.