LiveLoad.net permits carriers to provide a range of data and services to customers, such as billing information, answers to shipment history/POD questions, shipment tracking, pickup and delivery confirmations, ETAs and current freight locations, all on a 24X7 basis. Any operations software capable of exporting flat files or text reports to a PC can furnish the information. Web servers, dedicated lines, and additional IT staff are unnecessary because LiveLoad.net uses inexpensive connections and ISP hosting.

Customers view information from their browsers and may format it to suit their tastes, or extract it to Excel, Access, or other reporting/data processing tools. Issuing service/information requests, such as load tenders and rate inquiries, is accomplished via online forms supplied by LiveLoad.net and integrated with the carrier's web site. Responses are either fully automatic or structured to minimize demands on the carrier's staff. "By giving your people more control over their own workflow, and by cutting paperwork and phone time, LiveLoad.net helps lower your customer service overhead while meeting customers' increasing service and information needs," Widell says.

System security includes password protection, letting the carrier control what information customers can access, and isolation from the carrier's business server. "Our software accepts data from the business server, then uploads it to the site," says Profit Tools' Product Manager, Peter M. Rose. "There is never a live connection between the business server and the web."

Daybreak Express of Newark, NJ was the first to deploy LiveLoad.net. "We were looking at huge expenditures for hardware and site development, plus the T-1 line at over $1,000/month," says George Campbell, IT Manager. "LiveLoad.net saved us thousands of dollars, it was a snap to get running, it's very secure, and it fulfills the information demands of our biggest customers."

LiveLoad.net is the first of several practical Internet solutions under development at Profit Tools, whose business and operations software, Profit Tools for Trucking, is used by nearly 100 trucking companies in the US and Canada. For those using document imaging, access to scanned documents such as PODs will be provided in a subsequent LiveLoad.net release later this year. "The industry needed an automated shipper-to-carrier link that was more open and flexible than EDI," Widell says. "We set our sights on building a straightforward tool that would be sufficiently cost-effective and scalable to work for carriers of all sizes."