Human beings invented computers to make complex mathematical calculations simpler — software has always been a natural evolution of this original purpose, and a TMS (transportation management system) is no different.
The goal of TMS software like Brokerware™ is to make your job simpler, to help you automate where it makes sense to automate, to help you eliminate errors, and to help you increase those already-too-narrow margins.
It’s an investment, one that you don’t make lightly, and one that you can’t easily walk away from…
Especially if you find out that you made the wrong one.
That’s why we’ve cut the clutter of useless features and narrowed the focus of Brokerware™ to a handful of features (well, relatively speaking), the ones that will benefit you the most.
Features like mass tariff rating.
Any modern TMS (transportation management system) should have mass tariff rating
Unfortunately, not all do.
Or (and this is more often the case than not), the software is so absurdly complicated and overloaded with crazy features that you have to pay an entirely separate fee to get someone to teach you the software.
(This is a bit of a side note, but there are entire companies that have sprung up just to teach people how to use your TMS. Just think about that for a second… crazy, right? Here’s my rant on exactly why you should never have to pay for training for a TMS (transportation management software)).
Back to features. One feature that is so valuable it almost stands alone is mass tariff rating.
Now, many transportation management systems (TMS) allow you to create custom tariffs and apply them to many carriers at once. That’s pretty much industry standard.
If you’re not able to do that with your current TMS software, it’s probably time to look elsewhere.
So what sets Brokerware™ apart? To put it simply, Brokerware™ lets you get a lot more specific than simply creating a mass tariff.
If all you’re able to do is create a custom tariff and apply it to all your carriers, you’re going to have to change those tariffs around constantly for different groups of carriers.
Brokerware bypasses this issue and allows you to create groups of carriers. Basically, you can get as granular as you need to, creating custom tariffs for specific carriers or groups of carriers, instead of applying several mass tariffs to ALL your carriers.
Want to create a tariff by zip code? Done.
Need to create a taiff by shipping lane? Done.
How about by states? We got you.
Weight? Type of shipment? Any criteria that you find meaningful – our tool can create a custom tariff that you can apply to only that criteria.
This means less switching around, less editing of customized tariffs, and less room for error.
In an industry where margins are slim in the best of times, you need as few errors as possible.
Tariffs specific to the criteria you choose.
Now, while setting tariffs en masse is a wonderful ability to have, BrokerWare™ goes further, allowing you to set tariffs to specific service areas and specific shipping lanes. Or, as I just mentioned, literally any criteria that’s meaningful to how your company operates.
I probably don’t have to go into much detail about the value of such a feature. Right?
This is in sharp contrast to a low-end TMS (transportation management system), which requires you to build out the entire tariff by setting custom properties, of which there may be hundreds of options.
I’m having trouble imagining your employees jumping at the bit to spend their days combing through and setting hundreds of properties in a single custom tariff, but I could be wrong.
Bulk tariff rating in Brokerware™ is simple, straightforward, and fast. You customize your tariffs, choose your groups, apply, and get back to work.
It takes the strain off you and off your employees so you can focus on the job at hand (while also reducing errors).
Not bad for a little piece of software, eh?
To top it off, BrokerWare™ is so simple that training is minimal. You don’t have to spend weeks getting everyone up to speed on its use, and you certainly don’t need to pay a third party to train your team.
Why this kind of mass tariff rating is so important:
In case you’re thinking “big deal, I can set bulk tariffs – I just apply 18% across the board. That\’s the industry average anyway”, let me explain why that method of applying your tariffs is probably not in your best interest.
That average number for an 18% markup is just that, an average. That means there\’s plenty of shipping lanes that add more markup, and just as many shipping lanes that add less.
Consider an imaginary shipper near our offices, here in Los Angeles, or even closer, in Long Beach. If they\’re shipping a truckload down to San Diego, the markup should be much less than if they were to ship that same truckload across the US to New York.
That’s logical, right? It costs more to move that truck across the country than it does to drive two hours down the freeway.
So why apply a flat tariff to all shipments when your prospective customers know just as well as you do that it should cost more to ship cross country than in the same state?
If you charge an 18% (just to pick a number) markup for all shipments, then local shipments, who are expecting a lower markup of, say, 9%, are going to choose a cheaper shipping option.
If you charge that same 18% markup for a shipment going cross country, then sure, they’ll choose your company to ship the truckload – but they may have been willing to pay a 30% markup, which means you’ve left money on the table.
Not customizing your tariffs means you’re losing money.
And not customzing your tariffs by the granularity that Brokerware™ provides is costing you money – not just money lost in wasted time from double entry, either. Money from lost deals, and money from deals you could have earned more from.
This type of customizable tariff rating is something unique to Brokerware™.
See it for yourself – request a BrokerWare demo today.