How to improve efficiency: transport planning in fireTMS

Faced with rising costs, driver shortages and regulatory changes, transport and freight forwarding companies are facing the need to improve operational efficiency. A lack of modern planning tools such as transport management systems (TMS) can be a hindrance, leading to sub-optimal fleet utilisation, delivery delays and increased operational costs. See how fireTMS will support you in transport planning.

Solutions such as fireTMS, a comprehensive transport and forwarding management system, enable you to automate and optimise your work. The system will help you get to grips with transport planning, reduce downtime, increase revenue and avoid empty runs. 

Planner in fireTMS: linking loads to vehicles

One of the biggest challenges facing the managers of transport and forwarding companies is the proper planning of execution of orders, i.e. the transportation of cargo. Traditional methods, based on spreadsheets and calendars, are currently not enough, due to the increasing demands of cargo owners and the need to optimise costs, e.g. by recharging en route. Therefore, a good solution is to use the Planner in fireTMS.

How to plan a transport with fireTMS Planner

The planner in fireTMS is a function available on the Orders tab that facilitates the planning of transports and the distribution of vehicles according to the number of orders and loading and unloading points. It is available in the Carrier view, as it relates to the internal fleet only. The basis of the Planner is a map on which there are free vehicles and available loads on a given day and over the next three days (breakdown: today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in three days’ time). On this basis, it is possible to combine vehicles available on a given day with nearby loads and create an order.

In the map view, you can check the loading and unloading points and vehicles. Once you have selected a load, the details of the load and the route, including the start and end point, are displayed on the map. If you select a vehicle, you will also see its details and the items assigned to it, such as trailer and driver.

What using the Planner will bring you

The Planner enables you to plan your transport for the coming days efficiently and speeds up the creation of orders. It is also very important to note that, with the Planner, you can immediately see which vehicles are currently free and thus better manage their use by assigning further loads to them. This translates into both cost savings (saving driver time and fuel and reducing vehicle wear and tear) and additional revenue (taking on new orders).  

Vehicle and driver scheduling – efficient use of resources

Another of the tools that support transport planning in fireTMS are the Truck and Driver’s Schedules. This is a solution that graphically presents the work schedule of vehicles and drivers in the form of a calendar (with unloading and loading dates).

How the vehicle and driver schedule works

The schedule shows the composition of the transport set (vehicle, driver, semi-trailer), the tags assigned to the vehicle, vehicle groups and the current status of the order. The status can be sent by the driver via the fireTMS Driver mobile app or applied directly to the schedule. The tool also shows events related to individual transport sets, such as periodic inspections. You can also use the driver schedule, in which case you will also see information about planned holidays and other days of absence for your employees.

With the schedules, you can quickly and easily see which vehicles are assigned to orders and what the current occupancy and driver availability is. In addition, you can see when a particular vehicle may be out of service due to a periodic inspection or other event. Thus, you get information on whether and when you are able to take on new orders and speed up your transport planning.

fireTMS truckMatching – better fleet utilisation

Empty mileage is one of the key problems for transport companies. Is there a way to reduce them and make haulage more profitable? With a solution comes our system and advanced load planning tool, fireTMS truckMatching.

What is fireTMS truckMatching

fireTMS truckMatching allows you to increase the profitability of your haulage operations and reduce empty mileage by planning reloads en route. With this solution, you can simulate the route for a new load, calculate how much the commission will increase and search for a vehicle that is about to complete the order. In this way, you make use of empty loading spaces in your vehicles.

What are the key benefits of the fireTMS truckMatching tool?

• Increased profitability of orders through better use of loading spaces.
• Efficient transport planning by selecting the optimum vehicles for loading.
• Reduction of empty runs.

How load planning works in fireTMS truckMatching

Using fireTMS truckMatching is simple. Simply access the tool by selecting Vehicles from the menu, then truckMatching, and complete the loading and unloading location data. The system will search for vehicles according to three categories: orders in progress, vacant vehicles and vehicles in the vicinity (according to GPS indications).

In addition, during the search, you specify the loading price and calculate the potential increase in commission. You can add any number of loading and unloading points to the search engine and specify the search range in kilometres. This makes it easy to find the most cost-effective transport solutions.

What are the benefits of transport planning in fireTMS

The fireTMS system provides practical solutions to make transport planning even easier. The Planner makes it possible to deploy vehicles appropriately for freight handling and helps create orders on this basis. The truck and driver schedules, on the other hand, provide a quick overview of the current workload, which helps in scheduling the next job. In addition, the fireTMS truckMatching function facilitates the planning of reloads on routes, which results in reduced empty runs, reduced order handling costs and increased revenues.

fireTMS is an all-encompassing tool that will help you not only to plan your transports, but also to determine routes, manage orders efficiently and, afterwards, to monitor and invoice them. Would you like to see how fireTMS works in practice? Create an account with fireTMS and take advantage of the 14-day free trial. Find out how effective transport planning will make a difference to the profitability of your business.