Management Guidelines For Transport Business

guidelines for transport business

In the world of digital technology, many things have undergone a great change. Even the means of management of the business, its control, and execution of important aspects have been digitalized so that the entire thing can be done easily and in a seamless manner using any remote platform. It is therefore important for you to resort to an automated and customized management system to manage your transport business effectively and to ensure seamless operations of all the operations so that the consignment is delivered in time safely to the destination point.

1. Create a Detailed List of Clients, Trucks, and Branch

For the effective management of the business, the managers and the owners must have a complete, ready, and accurate list of clients and other key factors. For a transport business, to work efficiently is therefore important to create a complete and detailed list of clients, trucks, and the branch for ready perusal.

Such a list will help the user to analyze the numbers of the clients, their consignment details, and whether their consignment is dispatched or not, and many such things. Also, the user should be aware of the details of the trucks, driver strength with the company, and the branch details. Such details help the transport company to enable effective operations of its business and also help them to make the required changes to meet the increasing needs of their end-users.

However at a time because of workload and other aspects, manual maintenance of such records seems difficult. It is therefore imperative to incorporate an automated, tailor-made, and user-friendly software to record these details and to get it retrieved immediately in just a click whenever required.

For the smooth running of your transport business, it is important to record details of trunks, branches, their location, station-wise, and details of drivers, employees online. As when you sit to work you will want to access this information and this ready online list in front of you will be of great help for you will be able to work smoothly and without any error.

These data you will be required to use every time in your business and once you have fed these in the customized transport software you will get the ready reference of the information easily. This will avoid double feeding of the data and all the possible errors.

2. Prepare Rate List
  • Whenever the transport company accepts a booking, the rate of that particular booking is pre-determined.

  • Normally the booking rate is done station wise where the rate is calculated in terms of kilometers between the two stations i.e. the station from where the consignment is picked and to the station where it is delivered.

  • Another method of calculating the rate is client wise like the transport company will specify rate according to the client like for the particular client say ‘X’ certain amount will be used and for client ‘Y’ other amount will be used for calculation of the rate.

  • Another method is material-wise rate calculation where the rate of the consignment is ascertained based on the materials dispatched. Say e.g. if the material is liquid it will have a different rate as compared to the other materials like cement, garment, iron, scraps, etc.

  • In this way, preparation of rate list in advance and feeding the same in the user-friendly and tailor-made software will help the user to calculate the rate of transporting the consignment easily and that too accurately.

  • The user has to just click the button and there they will get the ready rate list that was pre-set according to the materials.

  • The software will automatically calculate the rate of the consignment based on the list loaded in it and the material that is dispatched according to the terms of calculation (client-wise, material-wise, and so on).

  • The automated software does the automated calculation of the rate in terms of the pre-rate that is prepared and list in terms of weight, volume, kilometers, party-wise, and any other norms of calculation that are uploaded in it.

  • Most of the transporters follow this pre-determined rate list for a particular period say one year and when the rates are updates the corresponding changes are made and the bill is automatically generated on the new rate.

So preparing a rate list in advance according to specific norms and loading those in the software provides great handy help to the transporters for it enables them to generate the bills of various consignments easily, accurately and in time.
3. Keep The Proper Records of The Consignment

Almost all the transporters all across India are not aware of the details of their daily consignments that includes the consignment that is booked daily, dispatched, leakage, and shortage. At times due to unforeseen circumstances there occurs damage or theft of goods and the transport companies many times do not have proper and accurate records of such damages and thus the owner is unaware of the details of such consignments and has to bear the loss.

By keeping proper records of the consignment the transport company can easily properly maintain stock and can do away from incurring a huge loss. Basically for success and seamless conduct of your transport business you have to focus on records of your consignment booking that includes the exact date of booking of the consignment, details of the party who booked the consignment, location of dispatch, payment made or not, which godown or warehouse the consignment is kept for further dispatch and the time and date when it should be dispatched.

If these records are maintained online through a user-friendly and automated transport software then you can easily check all the records consignment-wise and get a clear picture if the particular consignment is delivered or not, whether it is in stock, and whether the party has made the payment or not. By keeping daily and up-to-date records of every consignment the transporter can easily keep an eye on all the consignment and their minute details and make accurate decisions.

4. Consignment Dispatching
  • This means dispatching of consignments whose booking is been accepted. In other words, it is the proof of delivery (POD). When the consignment is dispatched we get POD indicating that the party has received the consignment.

  • POD indicates the details of the clients, date of receipt of the consignment, payment, and dues. In other words, POD showcases the details of every consignment.

  • The transporter needs to have knowledge and detail of every consignment to know whether the particular consignment is been dispatched in time or not or whether it is still in godown and if it is dispatched, whether the payment is received or not.

  • Many times consignment might be dispatched late. The records of such late dispatch of the consignment indicating the number of days delayed have to be maintained and recorded.

  • After dispatch normally consignment reaches the party within 2-3 days and the transporter has to know these details for the efficient conduct of their transport business.

  • By maintain the records of the consignment and recording those online through customized and automated software the transporter can track the status of every consignment and take an appropriate decision.
5. Keep Update Accounts in Every Transaction

Every business has several monetary transactions that are carried out on daily basis. This includes payment received and made to a certain party. Also, the transport companies maintain payroll that records the salaries paid to their employees and drivers.

Other expenses incurred by the company are the expenses of vehicles, spare parts, and goods. Also, there are expenses of advances given and the monthly installment to be paid for the vehicles and the transporter should have a clear idea of these expenses and incomes to get the current status of accounts.

However, it is a great challenge to maintain and record the details of expenses and incomes on an up-to-date basis. It is therefore important for the transporter to install a software application like the transport accounting system to easily and accurately record every transaction including payments and receipts.

The software automatically updates all the accounting heads once the user enters a particular transaction of payment or receipt. Just the user has to feed the amount and the software automatically calculates and shows the results and status of the transaction. Keeping updates of accounts of every transaction helps the transporter to check important reports including banks etc and helps them to check the reports on a real-time basis.

6. Check Truck Policy And EMI Alerts

Transporter buys truck on loans taken from financial institutions. They have to pay the monthly installment on loans taken for their business. Paying EMI on regular basis to the financial institution is the obligation on the part of the transporter which they have to fulfill without fail. Online transport software that is automated and friendly helps the transporter to check their truck policy of insurance and loan and get regular EMI alerts that remind them for payment of monthly installment.

The online application gives the exact details of EMI for every truck, the amount to be paid, and the amount that is still pending. It will also give an accurate picture of the total EMI amount that is incurred monthly wise. Such an alert helps the company to gear up in advance for making the payment of their EMI amount in time.

7. Use Consignment Tracking System

Umpteen numbers of consignments are booked in a transport company on daily basis and a transporter needs to keep the track of the minute details of all the consignments. However, it is a real challenge for the transporter to track every consignment and get their accurate status.

Using user-friendly and customized online application software viz. consignment tracking system the user can easily and effortlessly track every consignment by just clicking the button. Using the automated system the user can easily get the real-time details of the consignment, date of dispatch, date of receipt, and the payment made and that which is due.

Also, the transporter will get a clear idea of all the consignments that are not dispatched and are in warehouse or godown and will get insights of the date when they will be out for dispatch. Using a consignment tracking system the transporter can get the correct status on all the consignments.

8. Present Your Business Online

The Internet has taken everything by storm. Today every organization wants to have a great online presence of their business to reach a mammoth target audience. To excel and expand the wings of your transport business you must go online. For this, you should have a professional transport website of the business designed and developed and well optimized for the top rankings of the leading search engines like Google. If visitors view your business among the top ranks they will click your website and deal with you.

    • Social media is booming and every business is resorting to social media marketing to reach more target audience.
    • Promotion and marketing of your website on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn will elevate your online presence and will arrest the attention of the majority of the target audience.
    • Having a captivating functional and well-optimized website on one hand and the other has a great social media presence will help your transport business have a great online presence.
9. Focus on Your Network

For successful carrying of the transport business, the transporter must have a good focus on your network – branches. The transporter should have a clear picture of the working of the branches. The consignments dealt with the particular branch, the dispatches made, monthly expenses made and income incurred in a specific branch. All this information helps in streamlining of their transport business and carrying out the same smoothly.

The essence of such an information and facility movement aids in making an accurate decision. When the transporter has accurate and real-time information of the branches the company will be able to manage their logistics accurately and ensure seamless movement of the consignments. Also, the information about expenses incurred in the various branches at a stipulated time helps in exercising the control mechanism and enables easy comparison. Thus having a focus on the network helps the transport company to efficiently carry their transport business.