McLeod Works to Speed Data Flow Through New Software Functionality

This story appears in the Sept. 22 print edition of Transport Topics.

OXON HILL, Md. — McLeod Software said it is working to streamline the movement of data to help trucking and third-party logistics customers operate more efficiently.

New functionality and future enhancements for the company’s LoadMaster and PowerBroker software are designed to “drive the right information to the right person at the right time,” founder and CEO Tom McLeod said here Sept. 15 at the company’s 2014 user conference.

McLeod said new features, such as enhanced support for pricing and bid decisions and customer-branded mobile applications, can help companies become what he called “connected enterprises,” where key information moves seamlessly, not only within the organization but also with shippers, drivers and partners.

For example, McLeod’s pricing and bid management module, introduced this year, gives customers tools to analyze bids and requests for proposals and to make pricing decisions without the need to manually navigate numerous spreadsheets.

That new functionality exemplifies the company’s ongoing effort to provide more supporting information to users so they “have the best information to make the best decision,” McLeod said.

The company’s drive to enable the “frictionless” flow of information also involves making “big data” more manageable.

“Having big data is not of much use if you cannot derive insight from it,” McLeod said.

The software provider also announced plans to create company-branded mobile applications that carriers and 3PLs could offer to their shippers, carriers and drivers.

Mark Cubine, vice president of marketing, said McLeod will enable its customers to offer those mobile apps under their own company brands for Apple and Android devices, and make them available for download via their corresponding app stores.

The branded apps will have the same functionality that McLeod now provides through company Web portals, Cubine said. For example, drivers will be able to log in and upload documents through the app, while shippers will be able to enter orders and track load status. In addition, carriers will be able to view available loads.

McLeod said it plans to begin offering the branded apps early next year.

The company also introduced the seventh version of its McLeod Anywhere mobile app, which McLeod customers can use to access their LoadMaster and PowerBroker systems on mobile devices.

Other examples of McLeod’s emphasis on providing “frictionless” information flow include its recently launched dedicated billing module, designed to automate tasks that are typical of dedicated contract carriers, and its FlowLogix tool, which enables customers to design their own automated work flows.

Moving forward, McLeod said the company plans to provide its customers with greater support for hiring drivers, including data gathering for background checks and offering potential drivers multiple ways to submit applications.

By automating much of that onboarding process, he said, fleets can reduce the time it takes to complete all the hiring steps from two weeks to as little as two or three days.

“That can make the difference in a driver coming to work with you or going somewhere else,” he said.

McLeod said his Birmingham, Alabama-based company has expanded beyond 300 full-time employees this year and is in its fifth straight year of double-digit revenue growth as transportation providers have ramped up their technology investments.

While most of McLeod’s business continues to be with for-hire truckload carriers, the company also has grown in brokerage and logistics and has made inroads in the less-than-truckload market, he said.

Nevertheless, McLeod said, there remains “a surprising number of midsize fleets that are well-underutilizing the technologies that are available.”

Also, many large companies are still using aging, legacy platforms, in part because of the substantial effort needed for companies of that size to make a change, he added.

“There is still a significant opportunity, even among people who have technology, to utilize it more fully,” McLeod said.

Although the trucking technology market has seen a great deal of consolidation in recent years, McLeod has focused its efforts primarily on growing its existing business.

While McLeod said the company is “not in a strong acquisition mode,” it remains open to considering potential purchases.

He also said the company remains committed to offering an open system that can interface with technology from a variety of other vendors.