Cargo Chief unveils TMS for small truckers

The Mountain View, Calif.-based transportation procurement technology startup released a web-based transportation management system for trucking companies that don’t typically have access to automation.    Mountain View, Calif.-based transportation procurement technology startup Cargo Chief on Wednesday released a new transportation management system (TMS) for trucking companies.
   Referred to as Tracks TMS, the web-based system is targeted at small and medium-sized trucking firms with dispatching, load tendering, track and trace, customer invoicing and driver pay calculation functionality.
   Cargo Chief has been piloting the new system with two carriers, Selma, Calif.-based regional trucking company Raven, Inc. and Chicago-based temperature-controlled carrier Percy Transportation.
   Raven Operations Manager D.J. Randhawa said the system combines functions “from dispatch, to my drivers and location of my trucks” in a single location.
   Tracks TMS allows dispatchers to push load confirmations via text message to a driver’s cell phone, with proof of delivery sent immediately after the load is delivered. These push actions can be done with downloading a native app.
   Cargo Chief said the solution can be accessed from any Internet-connected device and can integrate with an existing accounting solution. It’s also integrated with many popular load boards, so carriers can find a load or post an available truck on multiple load boards from one screen.
   “It is robust in function for a carrier like us, but simple enough for every technology acumen level to use,” Percy Transportation Owner Tom Stawinski.
   A number of software vendors and freight brokerages are aiming to give smaller carriers access to better technology like enterprise systems, TMSs, visibility portals or rate marketplaces. Most small carriers don’t have the investment bandwidth to fund these technology initiatives themselves, but need better automation to get real-time access to available loads and critical shipment milestones.
   From the broker and shipper perspective, giving smaller trucking companies automation tools expands available known capacity and increases in-transit visibility.
   American Shipper profiled Cargo Chief in early August.