Headquartered in the Waco, Texas, area, the owner-operator says he “used to carry a laptop, and I was paying about $40 a month” for Internet service on it when he realized that was a cost he could eliminate, given the speed and capabilities of the browser on his Blackberry smartphone. Today, with a basic search and post account with the GetLoaded online load board ($29.99 monthly), Blankenship uses the phone to access the board via the mobile browser when he needs to fill his reefer or hopper trailer, though he’s only an occasional user of online load resources.
More frequent users can bypass their phones’ browsers in many cases and take advantage of a multiplicity of native smartphone apps for iPhone and Android (Blackberry for some) that boards and various brokers have developed to facilitate the many permutations of carrier/broker/shipper connections. Some, like Transcore DAT with its TruckersEdge mobile site, have optimized the website for accessibility on a wide variety of phone platforms, in addition to streamlined apps for other users as well. While we’ve written about DAT, GetLoaded (also now on Android), Internet Truckstop, TQL and uShip phone apps, a few newer additions to the phone-freight game are detailed below.
If you use your phone or tablet to find freight, what apps/services do you rely on? What do you like about them? Tell me in the comments.
Bulk loads app
BulkLoadsNow.com launched three years back, says Operating Manager Jared Flinn, as a load board serving the needs of shippers and carriers in “hopper bottom, end dump, walking floor, live bottom, tanker” and other bulk applications. Since its launch in July of 2012 for Android and iPhone, the company’s BulkLoadsNow app has been averaging around 10 new downloads daily, Flinn adds.
An account to search loads and post your truck on the board is available for bulk owner-operators at $29.95, and the app and BulkLoadNow.com website include several features specific to bulk haulers, including a searchable database of washout locations. Other features are apparent in the home screenshot here.
FTL Logistics app powered by Internet Truckstop
The first in what will ultimately be a series of “branded broker” apps the folks at Internet Truckstop have developed coordinating with brokers on their technology needs is the FTL BFF app for iPhone and Android, says IT Director of Sales Thayne Boren. It’s built to streamline the connection between Fikes’ brokerage wing and its owner-operator partners.
