How to choose transport management software (TMS) in Australia

By AJ Sakai, Director, TLH · Published

A transport management system (TMS) is the software a trucking business runs its day on: taking bookings, dispatching jobs to drivers, tracking trucks, capturing proof of delivery and turning finished jobs into invoices. For a small or mid-sized Australian operator, the right one replaces the whiteboard, the group chat and the spreadsheet with one record of every job, from the customer's email to the paid invoice.

We run trucks out of Braeside in Melbourne and built our own TMS because nothing we tried fitted how a small fleet actually works. This guide is what we'd tell another operator choosing one, whichever product they pick.

What a TMS should do for a trucking business

Start with the jobs you do every day, not the feature list. For most Australian operators that means:

  1. Bookings in. Customers book by email, phone or a portal. The TMS should turn a booking into a job without retyping it.
  2. Dispatch. A scheduler or board showing every truck, driver and job for the day, with easy reassigning when plans change.
  3. A driver app. Job details, multi-stop runs, navigation and the paperwork, on the driver's phone.
  4. Proof of delivery. Photos, signatures and times captured at the stop, sent to the office and the customer.
  5. Live tracking. Where every truck is now, and for how long it waited on site.
  6. Invoicing. Finished jobs turned into invoices in your accounting software, with fuel levy, waiting time and tolls included.
  7. Compliance records. Pre-start checks, defects, timesheets and the records that show you managed chain of responsibility risks.

If a product does the first six well and keeps the records for the seventh, it covers most of the day.

Questions to ask before you sign

  • How is it priced? Per truck, per user or per job? Per-user pricing gets expensive when every driver needs a login.
  • Does it work with our accounting software? Most Australian operators use Xero or MYOB. Check that invoices land there with the right accounts and GST, not as a CSV you re-key.
  • What does the driver actually see? Ask for the driver app on a phone, not a screenshot. If drivers won't use it, nothing else matters.
  • Can customers track and book themselves? A customer portal saves the "where's my truck?" calls.
  • How do you charge waiting time and fuel levy? The TMS should capture the evidence and price it, not leave it to memory. See our guides on waiting time charges and fuel levies.
  • Who owns the data, and can we export it? You should be able to take your jobs, customers and history with you.
  • Is there a free trial on our own work? A demo with sample data hides the awkward cases. Run a real week.
  • Where is support, and in what time zone? An Australian business needs help during Australian hours.

What it costs

Prices vary widely, so compare on the same fleet size. Most TMS products for small and mid-sized fleets charge per truck or per user each month, plus optional setup, training and data migration. Add up the monthly cost for your fleet, the one-off costs, and the hours of office time it will save each week. The cheapest product that drivers won't use costs the most.

Switching without losing a week

  1. Pick a quiet week and one customer to start with.
  2. Load your trucks, drivers and that customer's sites first.
  3. Run the new system alongside the old way for a few days.
  4. Move the rest of your customers once invoices from the new system match what you'd have billed.
  5. Retire the whiteboard last.

Where TrakkHQ fits

TrakkHQ is the TMS we built inside our own fleet and use every day. It's made for Australian trucking companies and businesses that run their own trucks, from one truck up to fleets of 30 or more. It covers bookings from email, dispatch, the driver app, proof of delivery, live tracking, a customer portal and invoicing to Xero, with every plan including unlimited office users and drivers. Plans start free for one truck, and paid plans are priced per truck: see pricing.

It isn't the right fit for everyone. If you need MYOB rather than Xero, or a full general ledger inside your TMS, ask us first.

Common questions

What does TMS stand for?

Transport management system (or software). In trucking, it's the system that handles bookings, dispatch, tracking, proof of delivery and invoicing for freight jobs.

Do small trucking companies need a TMS?

Once you run more than one or two trucks, or more than a handful of customers, a TMS usually pays for itself in office time and in waiting time and extras that would otherwise go unbilled.

Is fleet management software the same as a TMS?

Not quite. Fleet management software focuses on the vehicles: servicing, registration, fuel and GPS. A TMS focuses on the jobs and the freight. Many products, TrakkHQ included, do some of both.

What's the best TMS for a small Australian trucking business?

The one your drivers will use, that invoices into your accounting software, and that's priced fairly for your fleet size. Shortlist two or three, and run a real week on each before you decide.