Proof of concept for validating the Idea of Cloud-Based Virtual Fuel Cards for a Logistics Startup

Transportation Management System for a Freight Management Business The major business challenges of freight management companies arise due to manual repetitive work that leads to human errors, requires much employees' time, and results in lower service quality level for end customers. The robust Transportation Management System (TMS) with rich API integrations automates the major freight management workflows by carrying out the following 7 functions: 1. Finding a carrier for a new load When a freight management company gets an order request from a customer to transfer goods, they start by searching for a carrier. To avoid a manual search, a TMS gets integrated with such carrier services as Trucker Tools, DAT, TruckStop, and others, to automatically post new load requests directly through the TMS in one click. 2. Signing agreements and an insurance package with a carrier After finding a carrier, a freight broker has to sign agreements and an insurance package with a carrier. The integration of the TMS with carrier onboarding services, such as MyCarrierPackets, allows signing insurance packets for carriers and then delivering them to a broker. The carrier is automatically assigned to a load (order) and can start working. The compliance of the carrier's profile (insurance, driving license data, etc.) is monitored through the integrated services without broker's manual checkups. 3. Freight shipping tracking and notifying a customer After signing the required documents, a carrier picks up freight at the agreed pick-up point to deliver it to the agreed destination. A broker tracks a truck location using GPS connection. A customer should also be notified about changes in a load status. For that, a TMS uses its integration with a carrier service, for example, Trucker Tools, to upload tracking information and send auto notifications to a customer about any updates on a regular basis. 4. Covering on-the-road expenses During transportation, a broker arranges a quick and convenient money transfer to cover driver's expenses on the road. A freight broker can issue EFS money codes for on-the-road expenses directly through the TMS. The integration with the money transfer system EFS simplifies advance payments to drivers, maintaining full visibility of all payment details in a carrier profile. 5. Preparing an invoice for a customer and a bill payment for a carrier After the freight delivery, a freight broker prepares an invoice for a customer (to receive money) and a bill payment for a carrier (to pay for transportation). The TMS gets integrated with accounting software, for example, QuickBooks, to automatically issue invoices and transfer documents and financial data between the Transportation Management System and the accounting software. 6. Preparing and resending backup documentation To close the deal, a freight management company gets all the backup documents from a carrier and sends them to a customer and to the company's accountants. Thanks to the integrated documents processing services, such as the AI-powered platform Hubtran, the TMS automatically processes invoices uploaded from the accounting software, bills customers, and manages collateral docs for every load. 7. Analyzing performance and profitability The owners of the freight management company analyze information about the profitability of carriers and customers, as well as brokers' performance. The custom TMS is able to gather and calculate the profitability of mutual work with every carrier and customer. It also evaluates the performance of every freight broker, and can calculate other KPIs by company's request. If you need a development team with years-long expertise in Logistics & Transportation, Belitsoft's experts can share and apply their knowledge in favor of your business. Why Build a Custom Transportation Management System? The array of ready-to-use logistics management systems allows selecting one and starting to use it right away. However, users of ready-made TMS solutions share that these products may lack simplicity and may have certain restrictions. Let's take just one example. Casey G, who works in the enterprise with 1000+ employees and uses Oracle TMS, experiences a series of issues: “The functionality is outdated. The pathways to get to specific areas where data is stored is not always clear or logical. Making changes sometimes involves exiting out of the software and starting from the beginning.” Together with avoiding such issues, creating a custom transportation management system is a go-to option for a transportation or logistics company if it: needs unique functionality, branding, or high integration capacity that will improve service level and productivity and will help business stand out of the competition; loves to get a user-friendly, highly intuitive, and easy-to-use product; prefers to have full control over the software and not to pay subscription fees to a third party; wants to have extra income by reselling a proprietary Transportation Management System; needs personalized ongoing support, maintenance, and updates to keep usability, performance, and security up to safety and efficiency standards. Let's partner to develop a Transportation Management System that will decrease your freight costs, optimizes your employees' time, and help avoid human errors. Just drop us a message for that.

What is a Load Board in Trucking? Load boards match freight brokers/3PLs/shippers with carriers (trucking companies) to transport the freight. They are web-based publications where companies willing to ship freight meet carriers interested in hauling loads or truck loading. The robust load board software has functionality that make their cooperation convenient and profitable for both sides. An example of load board software in web and mobile designs Advantages of Load Boards The load board software is aimed to help professionals in the logistics and transportation industry to optimize their workflows and increase profit. How freight brokers benefit from load board software Build new partnerships. If carriers have lower capacity or the work scope of a freight company has increased, load boards are a convenient way to find new partners to distribute freight and deliver it on time. Load board software automates paperwork and the negotiation process—checking the validity of carrier documents, filling in electronic W9/W8 forms, a certificate of insurance, etc. Handle specific freight deliveries. In case a freight broker gets specific cargo and their regular partners cannot deliver it because such cargo isn’t covered by a standard contract, load boards become an efficient solution for finding a reliable carrier to deliver the freight. How carriers benefit from load board software Avoid the cost of driving empty. After delivering the freight to a destination, a truck driver is forced to return home empty, which implies extra expenses and zero profit. Using load boards, a carrier posts a one-time shipping offer along the trucker route. It allows you to quickly find a freight broker to arrange a deal and fill a “backhaul”. Such one-time freight shipment typically obeys the laws of the spot market, such as a short-term agreement and a spot pricing rate. Load Boards for Freight Brokers A freight broker acts as an intermediary between shippers and carriers who organizes transportation services. Typically, companies with freight ask brokers to find carriers to transport their goods under certain conditions. No matter how a standard workflow of a freight broker is arranged – cold calls, personal connections, emails, etc. – they need to post loads and find carriers. The load board software automates these tasks and provides extra functionality that saves brokers’ time. Key Functionality of Load Board Software Post Loads Every day freight brokers risk losing shipping opportunities because carriers rarely post “backhaul” trucks. Carriers prefer to search for loads by calling shippers rather than receiving multiple inbound calls. Using freight load board software, freight brokers can post loads and make their offers visible to carriers who search for suitable freight for their trucks. Integrating this process with a Transportation Management System (TMS) enhances its efficiency by carrier selection, subcontracting, and route optimization. The well-thought load board software allows posting load boards with increased visibility. For that, developers: enable the functionality to sort load boards by rates, which helps load boards with attractive rates be at the top, remaining more visible to carriers and giving brokers more chances for a match; create fields for detailed load description, including not only basic things like origin and destination or pickup and delivery dates, but also required equipment, cargo weight, specific instructions, and more, to let carriers understand if they match without spending brokers’ time on clarifying all these details by phone or email; add a search function so that freight brokers could not only post and wait but actively search for carriers that match the load, which lets quickly and effectively find solutions for specific or urgent shipments.  Find Carriers Finding a carrier with a truck going to the necessary destination and having the necessary documents, required equipment, and transportation rates may take days, which leads to the risk for freight brokers to fail to deliver freight on time.  The load board software serves as a searchable database covering the rich network of trucking companies in the region, where freight brokers can quickly find a matching truck. This is especially helpful when a broker has a problematic lane or specific cargo.  To maximize the competitive advantage of using load boards, search for freight load board software with the following functionality: Search. A freight broker can use multiple search options by equipment type, required lane, load date, and more – to see only the trucks matching all important criteria and save hours on manual search among thousands of offers; Filters. After searching for available trucks and getting thousands of results, it’s highly useful to be able to filter and sort the results to accelerate the process. Using freight load board software, a broker can filter the search results by equipment type or truck type. Filtering by the proximity to a pickup location is also of great help as the nearest carriers will also be more interested in a load that is nearby. Notifications. Imagine that there are no suitable trucks and every next day a freight broker needs to start a search again and again. The robust load board software allows saving search results and getting a notification when a match is found. Some software sends real-time notifications even when a broker isn’t logged in, which saves time, eliminates manual work, and guarantees quick results;  Analytics. The software can analyze past transactions to show accurate market rates for thousands of common lanes in the region, which helps freight brokers evaluate the delivery cost and choose a carrier having more data in mind;  An example of a load board software where a freight broker searches for carriers and post loads Carrier Compliance Check Finding a reliable carrier is a challenging task. With small companies constantly going in and out of business, not a single broker can say right away which of them are worth working with. As a result, every freight broker daily faces the risk of contracting an unsafe carrier that may suddenly disappear. Considering the expectations of customers to get their freight delivered on time and without issues, such unsafe carriers put the entire business at risk. The critical function of load board software is qualifying carriers upfront, vetting, and monitoring them to reduce risk and ensure partnering with reliable carriers only. For that, load board software provides the following functionality: Vetting carriers to ensure compliance with legal standards. This includes checking a valid Federal Identification number, Motor Carrier (MC) number, and more. Some software allows brokers to save and print the carrier’s actual insurance certificate; Automated alerts after due diligence checkups. On a daily basis, the software monitors changes in carriers’ statuses, including carriers’ DOT profiles, authority, safety ratings, inspections, insurance renewals or cancellations, and many more. In case the status changes, a freight broker receives automatic emails or SMS alerts and takes the decision about cooperation with the carrier, which ensures safety and compliance with ethical standards; The review option from peers. Thus, a broker can quickly identify carriers with a “history” of unethical behavior, and choose the reliable carrier that will fulfill the shipment as agreed. Thus, brokers using load boards avoid the risk of load hijacking, fraudulent double brokering, and putting an unsafe carrier on the road. Load Board Integration with Transportation Management System (TMS) Even those freight brokers who use modern, comprehensive TMSs, daily spend hours on third-party websites and services to post loads, check carriers’ backgrounds, and examine shipping rates. It requires manually typing in lots of data from the TMS to find the required data. Load board integration serves as an essential add-on that eliminates these unnecessary manual processes and makes the freight management workflow more productive. Advantages of load board Integration: Integrated load posting. A freight broker doesn’t need to manually create multiple load boards. Thanks to the integration, the majority of data (origin and destination points, required equipment type, load weight, etc.) automatically fills in during the load posting. Integrated carrier search. Brokers can save hours if they can find available trucks directly within a TMS instead of searching for suitable carriers on third-party services. Integrated carrier compliance check. All the functionality that provides load board software – checking carriers’ DOT authority, CSA scores, insurance certificates, and more – can be available directly from a Transportation Management System. Integrated spot market rates. When a broker posts a one-time shipment on a new or rare lane, they need to research rates. Due to load board integration, the spot market rates automatically get into a TMS. So a broker can simply enter an origin/destination and see both contract and spot market rates for the specific lane. Integrated electronic document management. Load boards automate the onboarding of new carriers. By integrating this functionality into the TMS, freight brokers get the possibility to sign contracts electronically, and complete an electronic W9/W8 form and a certificate of insurance, without the need to send and receive faxes. In addition, such integrations allow receiving alerts about certification expiry or other status changes. A custom TMS with load board functionality designed by Belitsoft Transportation companies report a decrease in freight costs by over 10% after implementing a TMS with load-board functionality. This fact was proven by Belitsoft’s client that got custom software developed from scratch with all the advanced features. See the dashboards and detailed description in the case study API Integration for Digital Transformation of a Freight Management Company. GET A SOLUTION FOR YOUR CASE Load Board for Carriers A carrier is typically a trucking company or an individual owner-operator that is responsible for delivering freight to a consignee.  Find actual loads and the best brokers All the loads, rates, and any other load information is pulled onto load boards directly from brokers’ TMSs in real time. It means that carriers always view actual loads and avoid the risk of wasting time on a load already booked by another carrier. Once a load is booked, it’s no longer available to other carriers.  On top of that, load board software allows carriers to see brokers’ credit scores, average days to pay, and reviews.  Understand the best possible rates The carriers who know market conditions can be sure they’re getting paid adequately. Timely receiving the best pricing information available is the key to business growth and prosperity. Load board software provides actual data about thousands of contract rates and spot market lane rates, based on actual freight bills and transactions. To remain actual, the rates get updated daily. A good load board software allows carriers to make informed decisions and get the best deals accepting freight because prior to accepting the freight carriers can:  View shipper-to-carrier contract rates and spot market rates for certain lanes, Check rates for different equipment types, Monitor historical rate data for thousands of lanes, Get access to the average rates that other carriers get on certain lanes, See average fuel and per-mile accessorial charges, Get analytical data on highly-demanded lanes, a supply-and-demand metric that shows the market's current condition, and forecasts based on historical trends, Use a rate calculator to get a final price with accessorials and other charges, Compare rates to industry averages or rates within a state, and more, Get rates for possible intermediate destinations that can increase the overall profit,  And much more data that favors increasing carriers’ revenue. In addition, carriers can see shipping companies' reviews and credit scores to boost their negotiating power. An example of a dashboard that allows carriers analyze rates Mobile App for Truck Drivers Integration Having a mobile app for data load software is a far-sighted decision that brings benefits both to carriers and their truckers. Benefits of mobile apps for load board software for carriers: Carriers can get real-time updates about new loads within a certain radius of their current location. Finding the next freight delivery using a mobile app is convenient thanks to search and filter functions; A mobile app for load board software allows both carriers and freight brokers or shippers to track loads. For that, truckers share their location though mobile phones and keep all interested parties updated on delivery timelines without the need for check calls. The ability to track loads is highly useful when moving high-value freight, which increases the service level and customer satisfaction. Benefits of mobile apps for load board software for truckers: On their way, truck drivers can conveniently check fuel prices, find the nearest rest stops and hotels, and search for loads within 200 miles of their location; Truckers can use the mobile app to quickly and easily find and reserve parking. For that, they simply put in the address where you want to park and see the nearest safe parking options directly in the app. Need full-scale load board software? Or load board integration with a TMS? Or a mobile app for your existing transportation solution? Use our expertise with similar projects in the domain to get the expected result fast. GET A FREE QUOTE

Main tasks and responsibilities In a nutshell, Business Analysts identify customer business problems and find the most effective technical solutions. To do this, they should have knowledge in the subject area or investigate the domain from both technical and business sides.  Although stages of Business Analyst activity could be a bit different on Waterfall and Agile projects, they could be described as follows: Identify customers’ needs, understand the business problem they want to solve. Communicate with the client to clarify any questions about the product that should be developed. Transform the business idea into technical requirements for the future product. Different techniques of business analysis can be used: business process models, diagrams and schemes, user interface prototypes, workshops as well as brainstorming with the software development team. Describe each technical requirement as use cases or Agile user stories and wrap them up into SRS (software requirements specification). Validate requirements with both software engeneering team and Product Owner. The range of tasks can be described in simple words: working with requirements.   A Business Analyst role on Agile projects There is an opinion that a Business Analyst is not necessary for Agile projects.  This is true for the Product Owners who are passionate, patient, and can speak with developers in the same ‘language’.  In fact, most of the Product Owners don’t have the patience and time to communicate with the software development outsourcing team morning to evening and Monday to Friday and define “acceptance criteria” and “definition of done” for each user story.  As a result, a Business Analyst is a must on most of the Agile projects. They are often called ‘proxy Product Owners’ which means that Business Analysts are bridging the gap between the team and the Product Owner on the client-side. Main duties of a Business Analyst Analysis of a customer’s business needs; Communication with stakeholders, developers, QA and end-users if necessary. Software requirements analysis (different methodologies and notations could be used - wireframes, surveys, brainstorming, traceability matrices, analysis of existing documentation and competitors); Problem domain analysis and improvement suggestions; Drawing up requirements documents; Requirements formalization (separation of business, user, functional and non-functional requirements as well as business rules, assumptions, and limitations); Requirements management (processing of change requests, analysis of risks, and description of the impact on existing requirements); Requirements transmission between the developers and the client. A portrait of a good Business Analyst A good Business Analyst is a communicative person who has good English, a team player who can understand the actual needs of the business and the domain, and can write clear and unambiguous requirements.  Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills are crucial. It is also important to be a hard-working, honest and conscientious team member to become a good Business Analyst. And finally, a person in this position should have an agile mind to quickly adapt to any project.  The main advantage of Business Analyst is the possibility to fathom the essence: to understand how it’s arranged, which parts relate and interact with each other and then convey difficult things with simple, but useful models and visualizations. Business Analysts are fond of beautiful problem-solving plans which are logical, simple and scalable solutions for difficult issues.  Business Analysts often need to explore large amounts of information in a short time. Besides working on their own projects, they need to feel the pulse of new methodologies and study basic principles of new software platforms, mobile applications, and web services. A typical working day of a Business Analyst A strong coffee! :)  Analysing Email correspondence; Daily stand-up meeting with the software project team including Product Owner; Working with the analysis tools: charts, diagrams, models and prototypes. In Belitsoft, we use Lucidchart and Draw.io. Working with wireframing and design tools. In Belitsoft, we love Axure RP, Figma and Balsamiq. Working with the requirements: collection, writing of requirements specification; In Belitsoft, we love Jira & Confluence. Developers and QA consultation;  Learning something new. Although bringing good ideas into the project could be limited due to terms and budget, it’s the Business Analyst who often suggests the most reasonable and scalable solution.