In the trucking industry, you have carriers and brokers. The brokers find freight and then match that freight with trucks. Then, the trucks carry that freight to its destination. Sounds simple enough. The challenge has always been connecting those people with freight to those people with trucks.
In the past, brokers and carriers developed one-on-one relationships with each other and built these relationships into a business network. The brokers knew that the carriers in their network could be relied on to pick up and deliver the freight safely and on time. The carriers also knew that they would get paid for their hard work. In other words, these networks were effective because they were built on trust. Brokers and carriers did business in-person, over the phone and eventually by fax and email. This way of doing business worked but it took a lot of time and money.
Enter the internet revolution. Soon, people were using the internet to get information, buy and sell goods and services. Doing business online saved time. Before long, loadboards were created. Loadboards were internet websites that allowed companies to advertise their freight and trucks with other members of the transportation community. Now, companies could exponentially grow their networks and their businesses, while saving significant time and money.
Loadboards started becoming really popular but soon, some negatives issues arose. More and more users were connecting from all over and it became difficult to know exactly who companies were dealing with. Brokers started to worry that their freight wouldn’t get delivered safely and on time. Carriers also worried they might not get paid for their work. People were no longer certain they were working with companies they could trust. Then social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube started allowing people to use the power of the internet to connect with others while preserving their ability to develop and grow trusted networks of friends, colleagues and business partners.
What happens if you combine the powerful loadboard technology and incorporate social media components? The result is a system that allows users to create their own community of trusted networks.
Thus the new world of Freight Matching Communities is born.
Freight Matching Communities combines the power of freight matching technology with the benefits of a social networking.
Similar to a group on Facebook or LinkedIn, users first post their excess freight and trucks within their private trading community which they can set up using the carriers and brokers that they know and trust.
If the user is unable to find a match in their private community then the posting then becomes available to other members of the Community If the posting still does not get picked up, it then becomes available to other users on their public Freight Matching loadboards. If all else fails, then the postings can be offered out to users on the other public freight matchings.
Freight Matching Communities is the next wave of loadboard technology. It can catapult your business efficiency so talk to your trusted partners and create your freight matching community today.
achsan uddin