Tomorrow’s Back Office: Freight Broker Software for Optimized Workflows

Back-office efficiency and automation have become increasingly important in the freight brokerage industry. In fact, any operation waiting for tomorrow to implement freight broker back-office software is going to be left behind today.

😵‍💫Understanding Inefficiency in the Broker Back Office

Inefficiency in the back office can be costly for the entire freight brokerage. Think of the back office as the heart of a freight brokerage. It provides lifeblood to the brain (the C-suite) and the arms and legs (sales and operations).

Clogged arteries in the back office make it operate inefficiently. Symptoms of back-office inefficiencies include:

• Complex load management.
  • Manual processes for load assignment and tracking lead to disorganization.
  • Load information is disparate and spread across software platforms.
  • The lack of real-time visibility into load status and location is an insufficient way to operate a freight brokerage today.
• Poor financial visibility.
  • Without metrics and KPIs for the brokerage team, customer base, and carriers, a freight brokerage cannot stand out in a crowded industry.
• Time-consuming communication strategies.
  • Reliance on phone calls and spreadsheets for communication is inefficient.
  • A lack of centralized communication platforms leads to information silos.
  • A lack of coordination among brokers, shippers, carriers, and other stakeholders results in a disorganized operation.

Many of these inefficiencies result from a lack of proper processes and time investment in selecting the right technology suite. Brokers need to establish team workflows that use the right technology appropriately for recordkeeping and management.

🖥️Moving Forward in the Broker Back Office: Leveraging Freight Broker Software for Back-Office Optimization

“In the near future, back-office functions could run lights out. They aren’t outsourced, offshored or nearshored – they are ‘no-shored,’” an EY report, “Embracing the automation revolution in trucking,” said. “All company data sits in core systems, loaded into an AI solution. … Transactions are settled seamlessly and automatically, with matching happening at the same skill as a human reviewer.”

The technologies of tomorrow are already available today. By leveraging freight broker software, back offices can take advantage of automated load management, integrated communication tools, and enhanced financial management.

🏗️Automated Load Management

“Entrepreneurs recognize and attempt to capitalize on existing pain points, like lack of real-time load and rate visibility, operating inefficiencies, and delayed payments for freight brokers, shippers, and carriers alike,” an Armstrong Group report said.  

Freight broker software relieves those pain points by automating load assignment, tracking, and management. Real-time visibility also enables improved decision-making.

Freight brokerages could go through the often painstaking process of implementing in-house software solutions. Or they can turn to Axle Technologies’ Beacon software for automated load management and more.

☣Integrated Communication Tools

Freight 360 said brokers can quickly scale their businesses if they have the right tools in place.

“With the right on-time performance, communication, and commitment, you can quickly and easily build trust with shippers and get more loads,” Freight 360 said.  

Real-time messaging, document sharing, and task assignment are among the processes that make for seamless communication among stakeholders. Freight brokers could implement all the tools necessary to achieve that seamless communication. Or they could turn to Axle Technologies for integrated communication tools.

📈Enhanced Financial Management

A Truckstop blog said freight brokerages have “critical financial needs.” It said in order to be successful, freight brokers need to answer these questions:

• How will you pay carriers?
• How will you accept payment from shippers?
• How will you handle accessorials?
• How will you handle cash flow?
• How are you paying for staff, equipment, insurance, and other components of your business?

Freight brokers could go through the process of answering those questions. Or they can trust Axle Technologies for enhanced financial management.

🚨Let Beacon Guide Your Broker Back Office

“For brokers, trucking carriers, truck stops, and logistics service providers, the shift toward automating back-office operations aims to streamline invoicing and other critical freight management functions,” the EY report said. “Document automation technologies can improve many areas that would previously have generated large amounts of data, such as document process, invoice generation, pricing, freight allocations, etc. The processing of invoices, bills of lading, rate sheets, and other documents can be more easily managed.

“Those who have adopted these tools maintain a competitive edge over entities still adhering to conventional business methodologies.”

At Axle Technologies, we’re building the transportation infrastructure of tomorrow right now. We’re doing that, in part, through our Beacon freight broker software, which enhances efficiency and enables prompt decision-making in the load-booking process through the quick quote feature and simultaneously handles multiple quote requests coming in via email through the auto-respond feature.  

Beacon also enables freight brokers to quickly verify and onboard customers and carriers; instantly build loads and do away with manual data entry; accelerate pickup and drop-off appointment scheduling; and automate customer and carrier track and trace updates.

That’s just a snapshot of what Beacon can do. Schedule a demo to see all of Beacon’s capabilities.

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