Transport scheduling software: what a scheduler actually needs

By AJ Sakai, Director, TLH · Published

The scheduler is the person who turns a pile of bookings into a day that works: which truck, which driver, which job first, and what everyone needs to know. In most transport businesses that job is done with a whiteboard, a spreadsheet, a group chat and a phone that never stops ringing.

Transport scheduling software puts that work on one screen. This guide covers what a scheduler should expect from it, what to ask in a demo, and where spreadsheets stop coping.

Where the spreadsheet stops coping

A spreadsheet is fine while one person books, plans and answers the phone. It starts to hurt when:

  • Bookings arrive in five places. Email, phone, text, PDFs and the customer's own system. Someone has to retype each one, and a typo becomes a wrong address.
  • The plan changes after it's sent. A customer moves a job, a truck breaks down, a driver calls in sick. Every change means calling drivers and hoping the right version of the sheet is open.
  • Nobody knows where the trucks are. Customers ring to ask, and the scheduler rings the driver to find out.
  • Waiting time goes unbilled. Nobody wrote down how long the truck sat on site.
  • The invoice is a second job. Someone retypes the day's work into the accounting system, usually at the end of the week.

What good scheduling software does

Gets every booking in one place

Bookings should land in one list with the same details every time: customer, reference (PO or job number), pick-up and delivery addresses, date and time window, load, truck type and site contact. The best tools read booking emails and PDFs for you and ask a person to check before anything is booked.

Shows the whole day on one board

One screen, every truck and driver as a row, every job as a card. You should be able to see what's booked, what's on the road and what's delivered without opening anything.

Lets you change the plan by dragging

Moving a job to another day or driver should be a drag, not a rebooking. Rebooking creates duplicates, and duplicates get invoiced twice. The job should keep its reference and history wherever it moves.

Tells drivers straight away

When a job changes, the driver's phone should change with it. No calls, no texts with screenshots of a spreadsheet.

Handles more than one stop

Real jobs have a pre-load, two drops and a return. The software should hold every stop in order, with arrive and depart times for each.

Flags problems before the customer calls

A truck that has sat on site too long, a job with no proof of delivery, a driver who hasn't done their pre-start. A scheduler wants these on the board, not discovered on Friday.

Works with other carriers

When you're short of trucks, some jobs go to another carrier. Good software lets you hand a job over and still see it on your board, so the customer gets one answer from you.

Feeds the invoice

Every finished job already has the customer, reference, times, stops and proof of delivery. Turning that into an invoice should take a check and a click, not a re-type.

Questions to ask in a demo

  1. Show me a booking email becoming a job. What happens when it's missing a detail?
  2. Move a job to tomorrow and to another driver. What does the driver see?
  3. What happens when a customer reschedules? Does it make a second job?
  4. Show me a job with three stops and the times recorded at each.
  5. How do I see that a truck has been waiting on site?
  6. Send a job to another carrier and show me where it sits on my board.
  7. Show me a finished job becoming an invoice. What do I have to type?
  8. What does it cost when I add a truck or a scheduler?

How TrakkHQ does it

We built TrakkHQ to run our own trucks at TLH, so it's built around the scheduler's day.

  • Bookings: TrakkHQ reads booking emails and PDFs and shows you what it would book before anything is created.
  • The board: every job and truck on one screen. Drag a card to move it to another day or driver, and the driver's phone updates. See truck dispatch and the ops board.
  • Problems first: a red timer shows when a truck has waited on site too long, and jobs missing a POD are flagged before invoicing.
  • Other carriers: send jobs to carriers that also use TrakkHQ, or track freight with any other carrier by its tracking number, on the same board.
  • Invoices: finished jobs go to Xero with the rates, fuel levy and waiting time worked out. See Xero invoicing.
  • Unlimited users: every scheduler and office person gets a login on every plan.

Book a demo

FAQ

Is scheduling software the same as dispatch software?
Mostly. Scheduling is planning who does what and when. Dispatch is sending that plan to the drivers and managing it through the day. Most tools for transport do both.

Do I need GPS trackers in the trucks?
Not to schedule. Trackers, or the driver app on a phone, add live locations and real arrive and depart times, which help with waiting time and customer ETAs.

How long does it take to switch from a spreadsheet?
Adding your trucks, drivers and customers is the main job, and you only do it once. Run the spreadsheet and the software side by side for a few days if it makes you more comfortable.