Less Waiting. More Hauling. Introducing Flex Loads.

One of trucking’s dirty secrets is that poor appointment setting is a leading source of wasted time and empty miles. According to research from American Transportation Research Institute, drivers are driving empty 20.7% of the time.  Even if a driver is able to find a shipment on the right route, the timing frequently doesn’t work with their schedule.

We are excited to announce Flex Loads, a better way to connect carriers and shippers.

With Flex Loads, carriers have the flexibility to choose the perfect pickup and delivery date for their schedule, letting them spend more time fully loaded. Shippers benefit as well from improvements in on-time, fall off rates and cost.

Poor Appointment Setting Leads to Empty Trucks

Trucking is an industry full of constraints, from the number of hours you can drive in a day to the roads you can travel on. The person best able to balance these constraints is the driver – but they rarely book their own appointments. Drivers are told which appointment they’re given not which appointments are available.

Bad appointment times are an issue we have heard about repeatedly from carriers. This problem leads to:

• loads picking up hours after drivers have completed delivery
• loads scheduled with too much transit time leading to long waits
• loads that are on the right route but don’t work for a driver’s schedule due to the timing

This cuts into a drivers available hours of service, leading to wasted time and empty miles on the road.

Carriers: Maximize Hours of Service, Choose Your Own Dates

Convoy’s Flex Loads takes a new approach, allowing drivers to choose when they want to pick up or drop off their load based on what is right for their schedule. Flex Loads will now appear in the Convoy mobile app with flexible pickup or delivery dates. Carriers can see a date range and choose the appointment time that is best suited to their schedule, allowing them to organize round trips and fit more loads into their day.  

Shippers: Access More Capacity, Become a Shipper of Choice

Shippers that have flexible pick up and delivery dates get access to the best carriers at the best price. With Flex Loads carriers choose what works for their schedule within a set of flexible appointment options, leading to higher on-time performance and lower fall-off rates. By providing a larger window for pickup from the start shippers are also increasing the lead time of their shipment which ultimately reduces cost. Flex Loads are another way to become a Shipper of Choice and access more capacity.

If you’re a carrier looking for more control over your schedule, sign up with Convoy and look for flex loads in our mobile app.

If you’re a shipper who wants to improve your operations through flex loads and other innovative programs, contact us.