Who is Trimble?
Trimble Transportation is dedicated to enhancing your transportation business through innovative solutions, expert support, and industry-leading software. With a focus on efficiency and growth, they offer adaptable, configurable tools that provide end-to-end visibility and control.
Their mission centers on streamlining operations, catering to challenges from sales growth to cost control and driver turnover. Their success is measured in concrete metrics, ensuring improvements in areas like revenue per mile, fuel spend, and on-time delivery. Serving a broad spectrum of transportation sectors, Trimble stands out for its consistent, tangible enhancements across various industry segments.
Trimble TruckMate TMS FAQs
Before exploring the advantages and disadvantages of using Trimble's TruckMate TMS, let's address some commonly asked questions to help you understand more about the TruckMate system.
How does the Trimble TruckMate TMS work?
Trimble's TruckMate TMS functions as a digital command center for trucking operations. It centralizes essential tasks like dispatch, operations, and accounting. Here's a simplified breakdown:
- Dispatch & operations: It helps manage the movement of trucks and shipments, assigning routes, and tracking deliveries. This ensures smooth operations and timely deliveries.
- Billing & accounting: The system handles invoicing, tracks payments, and manages financial transactions, making sure everything is accurately recorded and processed.
- Rating & rate management: TruckMate handles various pricing structures and rates, ensuring accurate billing based on distance, load, and specific client agreements.
- Document management: It integrates with other systems to handle documents, such as print renditions, scanned images, and receipts, streamlining billing and processing.
- Driver & carrier payables: It automates payment processes, ensuring drivers and carriers are paid accurately and on time, while also managing expenses linked to them.
- Seamless integrations: TruckMate integrates seamlessly with Trimble technology, including Instinct Telematics & Fleet Management, PC*Miler rating and routing, TMT fleet maintenance, and more. It also works elegantly with an extensive list of fuel cards, document management, payroll, and BI solutions.
- Communication: Owing to these wide-ranging integration capabilities with external systems, TruckMate facilitates smooth communication between different departments or aspects of the trucking business.
What's the difference between TruckMate TMS and Trimble's other TMS products?
Trimble currently offers three different kinds of TMS products. Think of these products like specialized tools for different jobs in the transportation world. Trimble's TruckMate TMS focuses specifically on managing businesses that handle smaller less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments. It helps save time managing fleets and money matters, and it's great for finding new ways to grow your business and team up with other partners.
On the other hand, Trimble's TMW.Suite TMS is designed for bigger trucking companies that handle larger loads. It's all about improving how things move, avoiding costly mistakes, and making sure everything in the system works together smoothly.
And Trimble's Innovative TMS is like an all-in-one tool that handles everything from taking orders to getting paid. It works well for both small and large transportation companies and comes with built-in accounting and safety features.
What additional services does Trimble offer?
Trimble's suite of products presents an opportunity to optimize your fleet in several ways. Some of their additional offerings include:
As you can see, Trimble's TruckMate TMS offers more than just streamlined operations, extending support beyond efficiency to elevate your trucking business to new heights.
Cost
Trimble’s TruckMate TMS comes with different price options. The cost depends on what features a company needs and how they want to use the system — like whether they want to pay monthly or have everything on their own computers. There are two main bundles with different features included, and the cost can vary based on what a company picks. There might be extra costs for things like ongoing support or adding more features later.
It’s important to note that pricing models for each package aren’t listed on Trimble’s site. Trimble provides quotes only if you reach out to them. Companies can speak directly with Trimble to understand the costs better and choose what works for them.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Specialized for LTL: Tailored specifically for managing less-than-truckload operations and optimizing smaller shipments.
- Comprehensive accounting: Integrated accounting system reduces manual entry, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in financial operations.
- Real-time visibility: Provides real-time insights into operations, enabling better decision-making and more responsive actions.
- Streamlined dispatch: Efficiently manages dispatch operations, enhancing route planning and load assignments.
- Document management: Facilitates centralized document processing, aiding in smoother billing and administration.
Cons
- Focused on LTL: Might be less suitable or require adaptations for companies primarily dealing with truckload or other specialized operations.
- Learning curve: Like many comprehensive systems, initial setup and training might require time and effort to fully utilize its capabilities. Trimble does offer video guides for new clients as well as weekly classes you can join to lessen the learning curve for this TMS.
- Requires a quote: Pricing isn’t available on Trimble’s site. A quote must be requested in order to learn what adding this service to your business may cost.