What is the best Software for Freight Brokers?

I have been shopping around for freight broker software, and im curious as to what people in the business recommend or think is the best software.

Dark Horse in Kansas City, Missouri said: I have been shopping around for freight broker software, and im curious as to what people in the business recommend or think is the best software.

For a small broker starting out check out load pilot, it will do all you need and works with quick books, I personally do not use it as we do 20 mil a year and are domestic and international freight forwards who handles mostly ltl and have larger needs however for someone starting out I do not think I have ever seen a broker program more user friendly.

You can also check out ITS-dispatch at its-dispatch.com. We use it for our business and it's great. It's web based so we can access it from anywhere and they just added a new component for multiple offices. It's pretty cost effective as well at around $65.00 a month with nothing needed up front other than the first paymnet. We were set up and using it within an hour and we move over 250 loads a week with it.

We use ALJEX software and although you never own the software they make constant upgrades providing you top of the line sftware at all times.

You have to take a look at the software package being offered by Solvere Logistics (www.solverelogistics.com). I've been in this industry for 17 years and it's the most comprehensive Logistics Software package that I have ever seen.

I really would not recommend solvere logistics. Be forewarned.

Ben Ward in Houston, Texas said: We use ALJEX software and although you never own the software they make constant upgrades providing you top of the line sftware at all times.

It is not very economically feasible to pay for something forever. I would purchase a client/server model. Although cheap, web-based solutions are only temporary.

I like prophecy. It cost money but it rocks.

js9033 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania said: I really would not recommend solvere logistics. Be forewarned.

Always look for a red flag. Can you be more specific?

We train our students at the American Broker Academy using LoadPilot software. Take it from me, we have done an enormous amount of research and testing and it is hands-down, the easiest to learn and the best for brokerages running small to mid-sized operations. It also offers capabilities the others just don't have and the price is unbeatable.

I just finished Load Pilot's free test drive. Granted there are a few things I wish where a little different, but over all I was really impressed. It even let me send my loads out to a bunch of different load boards with just a click. I also liked that it faxes out all your invoices and rate quotes. Think I might join....

are there any non web-based softwares for freight brokers. I was going to build my own Access application with an excel interface, but if something is already out there for a good price, I would rather use that.
Thanx

Opps....

try this link www.tailwindsys.com

what is the consequences for a broker illegally brokering loads when the license has been revoked by FMSCA

Hey Scott, what is the main difference between the LITE and the regular one. I can't see any info online for the Lite.. so just curious before i call them and they start "hounding" me lol..

Thanks

Scott in Kewanee in Wadsworth, Ohio said: Dr.Dispatch Lite - Cost like $300. It is not offered on the website, you have to contact them to get it. Good program.

Hey Scott, what is the main difference between the LITE and the regular one. I can't see any info online for the Lite.. so just curious before i call them and they start "hounding" me lol..

Thanks

recruiting@gmail.com in Ridgewood, New Jersey said: For a small broker starting out check out load pilot, it will do all you need and works with quick books, I personally do not use it as we do 20 mil a year and are domestic and international freight forwards who handles mostly ltl and have larger needs however for someone starting out I do not think I have ever seen a broker program more user friendly.

Don't waste e penny on load pilot. I use it before , now I end up using excel sheets for now and I am better of load pilot is a joke is not a software. I can't believe somebody can write this . You suppose to help the people with your postings.

and yes, tailwinds is good too...

good information

Gentlemen, I am thinking about starting brokerage operations because I got a few own trucks, where am I supposed to look for loads? Can anyone give me an advise where to look for them? What boards are popular, which of them are most effective (and probably cost efficient)? Please, advise.

Steve in Aurora, Illinois said: Don't waste e penny on load pilot. I use it before , now I end up using excel sheets for now and I am better of load pilot is a joke is not a software. I can't believe somebody can write this . You suppose to help the people with your postings.

Would you mind emailing me a blank copy of the Excel sheet you use?
epstranger7@yahoo.com

Hello All!
This is a transition for me from Finance to Logistics and looks like every company out there are looking for experienced candidates. Any suggestions, How I can get started in logistics as a freight broker? anyone??

Thank you in advance

At Diamond, we have used both Load Pilot and ITS; in the end, the theory I found that works well is that your system should serve your business versus your business serving the system. What I mean by this is that often we tailor our practices to the capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of the software. Which is a sure way to make sure you operate like every other company out there, with nothing to distinguish yourself from the crowd. The greatest shortcoming of any logistics software is the lack of an emphasis on freight sales. Most focus exclusively on the actual transaction and nothing for the harder part, which is the contact management, notes, follow-ups, etc - getting the business. In the end we just paid a web-based software wiz to develop a custom platform for us that matches the way we do business with an elaborate customer service management component. Honestly, it cost us less than a couple of years' subscription to these others.

I've seen virtually all the TMS systems today. Each application has their pros and cons. As with factoring, smoke and mirrors are abundant. Make sure you don't end up with a legacy development platform or you will certainly run into speed, data integrity, and expandability issues. Flat file databases are vastly underpowered as your data piles up. A word of advice is demand to see a demo set with a few million dispatch and billing transactions with at least ten workstations sending and retrieving data. This is the best way to find out if you are purchasing underpowerd technology. If you start getting dodgy answers you can be sure you've stepped right in the middle of of smoke and mirrors. There is no middle ground here. Request to see the features you need during your demos and have a list at the ready before getting on the telecon. If the rep cannot produce answers on the spot, nine times out of ten there is a gap in the feature set. Remember that sales reps are ready to spin, spin, spin the facts. A common tactic is to overwhelm the prospect with a very large feature set that couldn't possibly be covered in a two or three short demos. Don't be wowed by this - it generally means the software and personality is lacking.

Also, do NOT fall for the "we are planning on building this feature pitch". This is vapor-ware plain and simple. Your company wants to grow and there are many litmus tests available during the demo phase before a $10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000+ dollar outlay while throwing your company into implementation chaos.

If you need help evaluating a TMS, shoot me an email or post a reply on this board. I'd be happy to discuss ways you can avoid wasting valuable company time, money, and most importantly profits. Having personally implemented several hundred small to multi-site fully integrated TMS systems it would be my pleasure to help you avoid these unfortunately all to often pit falls.

Ben Ward in Houston, Texas said: We use ALJEX software and although you never own the software they make constant upgrades providing you top of the line sftware at all times.

How is the Ajax software working out for you guys? I am curently using ITS dispatch software and it seems to be a pretty good deal. I have used it to keep track of my cargo van drivers and some of the loads that theu have done for various other trucking companies. However I have not used it for my brokering operation (as my brokering operation has had zero customers in the past 2 months). I did recently receive an invitation to become a broker/agent for a larger outfit and they are using the Ajax system and i'm just wondering if it is better than the ITS software that I am currently using. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Ron Smith in Midland, Ontario said: You can also check out ITS-dispatch at its-dispatch.com . We use it for our business and it's great. It's web based so we can access it from anywhere and they just added a new component for multiple offices. It's pretty cost effective as well at around $65.00 a month with nothing needed up front other than the first paymnet. We were set up and using it within an hour and we move over 250 loads a week with it.

This is a good deal man, but there is only onw drawback that i've found with the ITS dispatch software. It can only be used to automatically post loads to the ITS truck stop load board. I don't know how to make it post to 123 load board or Getloaded.com simeltaneously. I might be mistaken but it seems like you cannot use this software to post on multiple load boards. Other then that I see no problem with the board, and for the price it's simply unbeatable.

Transcore has the best system. Run far away from Infinity Software's Broker Plus/Pro. A great many have made the mistake of purchasing it while referring to this homegrown program as "Broken Plus." You can even drop 10K to add-on "Broken Fax!!!" Do yourself a favor and buy a real TMS like McLeod Software or Transcore.

Also, watch out for programs with a QuickBooks interface. Just because many people use QuickBooks doesn't mean it's the best solution for a growing freight broker. Ask yourself, "Are you buying a serious TMS or a homegrown dispatch interface that is basically worthless without Intuit's QuickBooks?"

G Blomgren in Fresno, California said: At Diamond, we have used both Load Pilot and ITS; in the end, the theory I found that works well is that your system should serve your business versus your business serving the system. What I mean by this is that often we tailor our practices to the capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of the software. Which is a sure way to make sure you operate like every other company out there, with nothing to distinguish yourself from the crowd. The greatest shortcoming of any logistics software is the lack of an emphasis on freight sales. Most focus exclusively on the actual transaction and nothing for the harder part, which is the contact management, notes, follow-ups, etc - getting the business. In the end we just paid a web-based software wiz to develop a custom platform for us that matches the way we do business with an elaborate customer service management component. Honestly, it cost us less than a couple of years' subscription to these others.

How would I go about finding someone to custom build our company web based brokerage software? I would prefer a developer with experience in the industry.

garrettgm in New Orleans, Louisiana said: How would I go about finding someone to custom build our company web based brokerage software? I would prefer a developer with experience in the industry.

I do software consulting for the transportation industry. I might be able to help you to building your own software. Please e-mail me if you are need help on this. henry.sheldon@gmail.com

Just to chime in on the web-based vs. server/workstation install. We currently operate 3 offices across the country and have run into serious issues with server/workstation installs dependent on a flat-file database. Specifically, software instances that can't communicate over secure web requests are between 8.9x and 22.7x slower and virtually unusable. (Numbers based on actual tests in our offices.)

If you're one office/LAN, a server/workstation is great. If you have anyone working remotely, it will likely require a less-than-ideal remote desktop connection for them to use the system. So don't rule out web-based systems a rule. Tailwind, among others, offers a package that your company can host the web-based system, giving you kind of the best of both worlds.

As mentioned before, find a system that works for your business- don't change your business to fit the system.

Also, stay away from ISS Broker Plus. It's outdated, full of bugs, and slower than a sloth in molasses.

The only thing this forum tells me is that everyone has an opinion and its usually bias. Before you take the word of anyone on this forum do your homework, check out each potential software, and make an informed decision. Don't rely on other's opinions when it comes to running your business.

We built our own freight broker software to manage our business when I was a freight broker myself. We also made it modular with options for carriers and shippers. I originally teamed up with a buddy who is a PHP programmer to build Dispatch Load Board and once it was built, we both decided we would rather run a Software company than stay in the brokerage business.

Dispatch Load Board is web-based and makes it easy to post loads to any of the well known internet load boards, run an in-house load board or embed your load board into your website. We've toyed with the idea of producing a server/workstation install version, but DM is absolutely right about the issues that can occur there. Since our current customers all tell us they love the product and the portability of web-based software suits them, we haven't gone ahead with the different version. Hell, we have one carrier/broker who's using our software to post his loads from his truck while he's on the road! We love that!

Be sure to checkout ShippersEdge TMS. We looked at both high and low end systems and decided on them. The high end systems we looked at (Keypoint, McLeod, MercuryGate)were good but way to expensive for us. The entry-level systems like ITS and Dr. Dispatch were way cheaper and easier to use, but we knew we would quickly outgrow them. We ultimately decided on ShippersEdge because it was easy to use and priced like a low-end system, but had the full list of features we saw in the large systems. We decided cloud based system were a better fit for us because they are much easier to setup and maintain.

G Blomgren in Fresno, California said: At Diamond, we have used both Load Pilot and ITS; in the end, the theory I found that works well is that your system should serve your business versus your business serving the system. What I mean by this is that often we tailor our practices to the capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of the software. Which is a sure way to make sure you operate like every other company out there, with nothing to distinguish yourself from the crowd. The greatest shortcoming of any logistics software is the lack of an emphasis on freight sales. Most focus exclusively on the actual transaction and nothing for the harder part, which is the contact management, notes, follow-ups, etc - getting the business. In the end we just paid a web-based software wiz to develop a custom platform for us that matches the way we do business with an elaborate customer service management component. Honestly, it cost us less than a couple of years' subscription to these others.

Makes sence to me what you said, I am a new Freight Agent and I was looking for a software that can do exactly what you said, Manage the sales end of things, because thats really all I will be doing in the begining. Any tips on who you hired to set up your software or do you know of any programs compatabile?

I've read the above comments and can concur with many of the opinions. Red flags should be flying if the software product (web or network based) is a first release program. I'm referring to the product NOT the company. Don't be fooled by the numbers behind the product name. For instance, "Broker Program 10.00" might appear as if it's been around 10 years, but in reality its a first release software written on a brand new platform even though that company has a whole line of legacy software. Don't fall into the trap of being a software company's beta tester. Be skeptical if when software companies patch their software regularly. This means it's bug heavy. Moreover, a first release software will end up being frequently updated by default because it must work out bugs and begin building new features. This is no small thing (especially with web based solutions) because everyone is being updated at one time. Any unestablished web app hasn't had years of being battle tested. Believe me - there are plenty of alternatives out there.

Whether it's a new version or new program, many have been duped into testing while ending up focusing valuable time and money on software issues rather than moving freight and growing. And, DO NOT believe it when a smaller company tells you they have XXX number of companies running their software. In Freight Brokering, companies startup then fail at very high rates so it's a good idea to ask how many ACTIVE companies are currently using A SPECIFIC product.

Lastly, don't let sales reps fool you with generalized statements. Even though that was a generalized statement itself, always turn generalized topics into specific knowledge. For example a rep may say, "Part of your monthly fee includes the new features we will be adding." The two paragraphs above point out ways this will impact you if you aren't careful. Also, watch out for this statement "No software can be guaranteed as bug free." This is a loaded statement.

I've read the above comments and can concur with many of the opinions. Red flags should be flying if the software product (web or network based) is a first release program. I'm referring to the product NOT the company. Don't be fooled by the numbers behind the product name. For instance, "Broker Program 10.00" might appear as if it's been around 10 years, but in reality its a first release software written on a brand new platform even though that company has a whole line of legacy software. Don't fall into the trap of being a software company's beta tester. Be skeptical if when software companies patch their software regularly. This means it's bug heavy. Moreover, a first release software will end up being frequently updated by default because it must work out bugs and begin building new features. This is no small thing (especially with web based solutions) because everyone is being updated at one time. Any unestablished web app hasn't had years of being battle tested. Believe me - there are plenty of alternatives out there.

Whether it's a new version or new program, many have been duped into testing while ending up focusing valuable time and money on software issues rather than moving freight and growing. And, DO NOT believe it when a smaller company tells you they have XXX number of companies running their software. In Freight Brokering, companies startup then fail at very high rates so it's a good idea to ask how many ACTIVE companies are currently using A SPECIFIC product.

Lastly, don't let sales reps fool you with generalized statements. Even though that was a generalized statement itself, always turn generalized topics into specific knowledge. For example a rep may say, "Part of your monthly fee includes the new features we will be adding." The two paragraphs above point out ways this will impact you if you aren't careful. Also, watch out for this statement "No software can be guaranteed as bug free." This is a loaded statement.

the aljex system is so much better than the its system. it works with all the loadboards, and it actually brokers out a lot of the loads automatically. (well, it gets a person to intervene to approve the rate agreement), and it also automatically contacts the carriers for updates. comparing it to internet truckstop's software is like comparing a bulldozer to a shovel. i have been to aljex's user conference and met some of their other customers and everyone that i ever met that used it has told me they loved it.

Strategy Live. It's much cheaper and does the same thing

Comparing Aljex and ITS Dispatch is like comparing a Corvette to a Honda civic. They are both cars. They both do the basic things that cars need to do but one is going to have more options and features than the other. One is going to have some additional tools that you may or may not need. Bottom line is you will get more tools with one of them and it will cost you money. If those tools are something that you have no desire to use or can't afford, then don't bother paying extra for them. There are many software options out there for all types of customers, with all kinds of price points. Just like comparing a Civic to a Vette is not smart, neither is comparing software. (Civic would win anyway!!!)

If money is no object then buy the best that you can afford. If money is an issue and you are looking for something that covers all the basics for your growing Brokerage business (Plus a little more), then services like ITS Dispatch are a great solution that can grow with you and your business. No matter who you choose, ask what the support and training costs are associated with learning to use your new software.

Just a side note that I am affiliated with Internet Truckstop and ITS Dispatch...

We use ArcFreight by Arcline and are very happy with it. Started using the system in 1990 and have been a loyal customer for over 20 years. Arcline has continued to have new products/updates over the years. It is a server based software, we like to be in control of our own data. Customer service and technical support staff are great, they do not employ an annoying phone system which is nice.

Otis,

Otis Magoo in Birmingham, Alabama said: I've seen virtually all the TMS systems today. Each application has their pros and cons. As with factoring, smoke and mirrors are abundant. Make sure you don't end up with a legacy development platform or you will certainly run into speed, data integrity, and expandability issues. Flat file databases are vastly underpowered as your data piles up. A word of advice is demand to see a demo set with a few million dispatch and billing transactions with at least ten workstations sending and retrieving data. This is the best way to find out if you are purchasing underpowerd technology. If you start getting dodgy answers you can be sure you've stepped right in the middle of of smoke and mirrors. There is no middle ground here. Request to see the features you need during your demos and have a list at the ready before getting on the telecon. If the rep cannot produce answers on the spot, nine times out of ten there is a gap in the feature set. Remember that sales reps are ready to spin, spin, spin the facts. A common tactic is to overwhelm the prospect with a very large feature set that couldn't possibly be covered in a two or three short demos. Don't be wowed by this - it generally means the software and personality is lacking.

Also, do NOT fall for the "we are planning on building this feature pitch". This is vapor-ware plain and simple. Your company wants to grow and there are many litmus tests available during the demo phase before a $10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000+ dollar outlay while throwing your company into implementation chaos.

If you need help evaluating a TMS, shoot me an email or post a reply on this board. I'd be happy to discuss ways you can avoid wasting valuable company time, money, and most importantly profits. Having personally implemented several hundred small to multi-site fully integrated TMS systems it would be my pleasure to help you avoid these unfortunately all to often pit falls.