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Updated:
9/10/2007 8:30:00 AM
Opinion: The Web as the Great Equalizer
By Ken Weinberg
Vice President
Carrier Logistics Inc.
This Opinion piece appears in the Sept. 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
In the transportation industry, every trucking company, large or small, does essentially the same thing: Pick up and deliver. So how can smaller carriers compete against larger ones and distinguish themselves from one another? One of the most effective ways is through technology, and today, that means using the Internet to conduct business and manage information.
The Internet has revolutionized the way companies in all industries do business, and trucking is no exception. It will soon be the norm for carriers to conduct business and manage information completely online. Given such an environment, smaller carriers, including less-than-truckloads and parcel-delivery firms, will survive and prosper only if they learn how to incorporate the Internet into their freight-management systems.
Many of the large parcel carriers, including FedEx and UPS, have known the importance of using the Web as part of their information systems for years. But now that the technology has become more affordable and is adaptable to businesses of any size, smaller carriers can gain the same advantages that using the Internet provides, putting them on the same playing field as the larger haulers.
Incorporating the Internet into a freight-management system provides carriers and their customers with online access to all pertinent information at any time. Carriers and their customers can go online to trace shipments, view freight charges and rate information, get price quotes and inquire about transit time, accounts receivable and payments.
Online technology also allows a carrier to provide superior customer service to its shippers by offering a wider array of services. For example, a Web application allows customers to log pickup requests, locate and print out bills, and send pickup requests to the carrier’s dispatch system automatically, without ever having to wait for someone to answer the phone or send a fax. The carrier also can provide shippers with automated e-mail alerts and updates.
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