These guides are for people who run freight: owner-operators growing into a fleet, small carriers with 5 to 75 trucks, and freight brokers covering loads with a small team. They follow a load through its life, from tender and dispatch to tracking, delivery, invoicing and paying drivers and carriers. They also cover how to choose a transportation management system (TMS) without overpaying.
New here? Start with how to stop running dispatch on spreadsheets. Then work out your real cost per mile, and use the TMS buyer’s checklist before you book any demos.
Choosing a TMS
- Best TMS for small trucking companies: what small carriers actually need, with a checklist and demo questions.
- Best TMS software for small freight brokers: the broker buyer’s guide, covering carrier vetting, ratecons, EDI, tracking and carrier pay.
- A buyer’s checklist for choosing a TMS: the questions that expose weak vendors.
- What TMS software actually costs small fleets: per-seat, per-load and flat pricing compared.
- Trucking dispatch software free trial: what to test in 30 days: a week-by-week trial plan.
- TMS for a 10-truck fleet and the 25-truck tipping point: what changes as you grow.
- TMS for companies running both brokerage and carrier operations.
- TMS with EDI 204 for small brokers: how load tenders flow in from shippers.
- TMS with Samsara integration: what an ELD integration should give dispatch.
Dispatch and tracking
- How to stop running dispatch on spreadsheets
- How to track a load without calling the driver
- Dispatch software with GPS tracking for small carriers
- How to reduce deadhead and empty miles
- How to reduce dispatcher workload without adding headcount
- How to calculate cost per mile for a trucking company
Billing, settlements and getting paid
- Freight invoicing and settlement basics: from delivery to cash
- Proof of delivery collection: getting PODs into billing the same day
- Detention and accessorial billing that actually gets paid
- Driver settlement calculation explained
- Owner-operator pay: percentage vs per mile
Running a freight brokerage
- Freight broker software for a startup: what you need in year one
- How to calculate freight rate per mile
- Freight broker carrier vetting process: how to screen out double brokers
- Carrier onboarding checklist for brokers
- From quote to signed rate confirmation without the email chase
- TMS vs spreadsheets for freight brokers
Free calculators
- Trucking cost-per-mile calculator: fixed and variable cost, deadhead and break-even rate.
- Driver settlement calculator: per-mile, percentage or flat pay, with accessorials and deductions.
Software for small freight teams
Techvia TMS is the transportation management system we build for small US carriers and freight brokers. It covers dispatch, tracking, invoicing and driver and carrier pay in one system. See how it fits trucking companies and freight brokers.