How much time and money could you save if you didn’t have to start from scratch?
Last month we wrote about our partnership with TrueTMS. One of the reasons we’re so excited about it is that we see too many companies using significant resources to create data resources that already exist.
Think about it — every carrier needs information about facilities, trucking routes, and what drivers experience on the road. So they naturally start collecting this information and trying to create a database that their drivers can use.
What if there was a single, comprehensive database with all the information they needed? There can be. In fact, there is.
It’s Time to Unsilo Transportation
In business, a company is said to have silos if the different departments work independently and don’t communicate with each other. Unfortunately, silos result in significant problems.
Silos result in problems with productivity, communication, and teamwork. There’s also an issue with duplicate work — because no one is communicating, departments do things that have already been done by others. Finally, new ideas are hindered because everyone is starting from scratch instead of working together.
It’s no wonder that companies without silos outperform others by up to 40%.
Transportation is seeing similar issues. Every company is on its own island, trying to create its own resources, educate drivers, and share information within itself. However, no information is brought in from outside the company. This leads to miscommunication, information gaps, and problems with productivity and efficiency.
For a long time, this was because there wasn’t a reliable third-party source of data. Not anymore. Today, every carrier can access reliable information that is carrier-agnostic and facility-agnostic — and they can add to that data as they learn more from their unique operations.
Do What You Do Best
Carriers and facilities both have unique core competencies that don’t involve building databases. What makes the most sense is to centralize data and allow everyone who wants to use it simple API access.
That’s our mission at Dock411.
A centralized third-party source of data gives carriers and facilities more time and resources to focus on what they do best. With the right data, you can do that work more effectively and efficiently.
Knowing what facilities offer and having in-depth reviews from drivers about issues such as detention time, parking, and bathroom use can also help centralize the information we need to address key problems in trucking, but that’s a topic for another day.
Take Advantage of Centralized Data with Dock411
If you need information for your fleet about facilities, parking, final-mile routing, and more, don’t start your own database. Instead, take advantage of the over 200,000 facilities we already have information on by using an API to connect with Dock411.
We make it easy for carriers of any size to incorporate this data into your technology. Interested in learning more? Contact us today!
