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Staying at the cutting edge of technological developments is essential in an industry as dynamic and market-responsive as haulage. To stay ahead of the curb, managers of haulage companies must embrace technology and use it to drive toward ever more efficient and productive processes. However, whatever your technology plans, these are a few crucial rules that your haulage business must keep in mind. Don’t Forget About Growth Every decision made by your company should consider the implications on your short-term and – more importantly – your long-term growth. Planning and growth forecasting is very important, regardless of what technological innovations are being introduced. Factor in Multiple Devices The many moving parts of haulage companies communicate with one another via a wide variety of devices. Drivers, employees and clients are all likely to have differing mobile devices, email services and computers, so accommodating them in your operating processes and support systems is essential. You Get What You Pay For Cheap fixes have the potential to be useful in the ultra-short-term, but can be damaging and inefficient for businesses in the long run. It’s worth investing heavily in the technology that you will be using for the considerable future and spending less on temporary solutions to temporary problems. Modular is Better As details and processes change all the time and future developments are often unforeseeable, it is useful to invest in technologies that can be easily changed and augmented when necessary. If you end up stuck with a rigid system, you will find your business lagging behind and unable to evolve while the rest of the industry moves on. The Cloud is Growing The cloud is already big, but it’s getting bigger. With big pushes by companies such as Microsoft to make cloud computing more accessible to small- and medium-sized businesses, storage and other functions will be increasingly shifted onto the cloud. Now is not the time to bet big on expensive hardware. Instead, it’s best to seek software solutions and to look to the cloud. Study Business Before Implementing Changes It can be easy to get carried away with big plans and futuristic technological solutions, but doing so can often lead to current processes being neglected. Before undertaking any large technological investment, haulage companies must first undergo a deep audit into the current infrastructure and systems. By taking this step, gaps and trends can be identified and the right long-term solutions can be chosen. Always Think Long-Term Successful businesses generally plan for the next five to ten years. Many things will change in that time and your business will come up against plenty of unexpected challenges, but, without a long-term strategy, these problems will be far more difficult to overcome. One of the technological solutions that your business might want to consider is Haulage Exchange. Their online platform allows haulage companies and individual drivers to maximise efficiency by backloading where possible. The service currently has 5,000 members and posts over 100,000 available loads per month... and it’s still growing! Author Plate Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry. Connecting professionals across the UK and Europe through their website, Haulage Exchange provides services for matching haulage companies or self-employed drivers with jobs in road transport and haulage work. Over 5,000 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading jobs and capacity in a safe 'wholesale' environment.
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