I’m hearing about Uber Freight – some people love it, some people hate it, some people fear it.
What do you think? Is Uber going to take over trucking?
I was trying to see exactly what Uber is offering. They say they want to speed up payment to owner-operators. Good idea – I’m all about getting people paid for their work. But will the Uber app work for truckers?
Uber Trucking App vs. TruckingOffice
An overview of the Uber Trucking app in the Google Play store isn’t very reassuring. All of the reviews that I saw on the app page were pretty bad. I think a lot of that is because the press made it sound like everyone’s going to start using Uber Freight the way we see people using Uber instead of taxis. We forget that Uber was around a while before it became familiar. Uber Freight is going to have to grow too. But for now, shippers aren’t hopping on the wagon very quickly and that’s disappointing drivers. We may see a turn around in their ratings.
My question is: Will the Uber Freight app handle all the rest of the needs of the trucker?
At this point, I think the answer is no. It’s a load board, and not much on it, according to the reviews.
Truckers will still need the ability to track their state miles to complete the IFTA and IRP reports. An owner-operator will still need to track maintenance and the fleet manager needs to pay the drivers. Is the Uber app going to do that? I doubt it.
The need for a full trucking management software won’t go away if you use Uber Freight.
It maybe will handle invoicing for you – I’m waiting to see how that’s going to work before I get too excited about their claim to “pay truckers quicker.” Then again, if they get the shipper to put the money up front the same way they do for the car Uber drivers, it may work. You’ll still have to track that income against expenses to determine your revenue. That means adding QuickenBooks.
To Uber or Not to Uber?
We’ve been hearing some talk about the new kid on the block, Uber freight platforms. Most truckers have some valid concerns and dozens of questions about this topic. The good news is it’s still in the beginning stages of development. So, don’t worry that it’s going to take over the trucking industry as we know it.
One thing we want to stress is that you will still need a trucking management software package even if you decide to try Uber. Either way, all of your IFTA fuel tax tracking and IFTA reporting should be handled by a reputable, dependable program such as TruckingOffice. We can assure you that we keep up-to-date with any changes in IFTA requirements to provide the most accurate, timely reports available today. If you’re not familiar with what our program offers, sign up for this 30-day free trial. You’ll find that we can manage all of your administrative needs so you can get out from behind that paperwork and get back on the road.
It looks like Uber Freight may make you work harder if you don’t use a complete trucking management system with it.
We’re going to recommend TruckingOffice, of course. Whether you get your loads from Uber Freight or any other broker or load board, you need the full set of tools to keep your trucking business profitable and on the road.
July is here. Another IFTA month.
So try this: we’ll give you a free trial on TruckingOffice. You put in your data from April, May, and June. Then you’ll see how fast TruckingOffice can do that IFTA plus so much more:
- Invoice tracking
- Access to PC*Miler for routing
- Miles per state
- Driver settlements
- Trucking business reports: costs per mile and revenue per mile.
It will take a bit of time to get all those loads from the last three months in, but I’m willing to bet that you’re going to find that time paid back when your IFTA report takes 3.0 seconds to pop up on your computer screen. You’ll find out how easy it is to use when you’re on the road or at home at your desktop. The same data, securely stored, is available wherever you have wifi or computer access, so you don’t have to worry if you lose your phone. Or the apps on it.
TruckingOffice makes it easy.
What do you think about Uber Freight?
