McLeod Launches New Mobile App Connecting Drivers With Fleets’ TMS
McLeod Software has taken another step to incorporate mobile devices into its offerings with the launch of a mobile application that carriers can provide to drivers.
The Carrier Driver App, which fleets can brand with their own logos, connects drivers with the carrier’s transportation management system and enables them to perform a variety of functions outside the cab on their Apple and Android mobile devices.
Aimed at boosting driver productivity, the app is available for carriers using McLeod’s LoadMaster Enterprise system. Those customers can, in turn, offer the app to their company drivers and owner-operators for download.
McLeod introduced the app at its annual user conference, held Oct. 4-6 in Birmingham, Alabama, where the company is headquartered. The software provider is marking its 30th year serving the transportation industry.
In a briefing with industry press, CEO Tom McLeod said much of the marketplace is “headed toward a generic piece of hardware in the truck to communicate with drivers. It’s a lot more versatile, a lot less expensive.”
Nonetheless, trucking firms still expect the applications that run on that hardware to be “broad and deep,” he said.
Drivers can use the Carrier Driver App to view and respond to dispatch messages on their mobile devices while outside the cab. The app also enables drivers to transmit images of trip documents with the device’s camera, electronically capture signatures for proof of delivery and view paid and pending settlements on their mobile devices.
The company said the app provides customers with an off-the-shelf option that is already integrated with the McLeod system, avoiding the cost and effort of purchasing or developing such an app in-house and integrating it with dispatch and management software.
He acknowledged that the driver app overlaps with some of the functionality offered by the industry’s mobile communications providers, but described the app as a complementary platform to those in-cab systems. For example, he said McLeod does not intend to develop an app to record drivers’ hours of service, citing the growing number of products available on the market to fulfill that function as the industry awaits a final rule requiring the use of electronic logging devices.
While the app is McLeod’s latest move to connect mobile devices with its TMS software, the company has already been offering a mobile app for fleet operations for several years. Dispatchers can use the McLeod Anywhere app to enter loads, check load status and respond to messages while they are away from the office.
The company first announced plans to offer customer-branded mobile apps for drivers at last year’s user conference.
Moving forward, McLeod is looking at developing a version of the app that interfaces with PowerBroker for its freight brokerage customers, said Mark Cubine, vice president of marketing.
McLeod also announced several other new capabilities and enhancements it has added to its software over the past year.
The company said LoadMaster and PowerBroker users can now send messages directly to drivers via text or e-mail, giving them another way to communicate details about load assignments.
