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Features & Updates

Driver Settlements in Two Easy Steps

“Where’s my paycheck?” – is something that we’ve all heard whenever there’s a slightest delay in the payroll process. Delays in processing paperwork, calculation errors and “technical glitches” can significantly impact timely payroll checks or deposits. Driver’s not only want to be paid on time but also have confidence that they are compensated fairly for their work. How can you as a small truck company simplify the driver settlement process, reduce paperwork and present an error-free settlement sheet?

Do your Math – or not

When it comes to paying drivers the numbers need to match reality. Your integrity as a company is on the line if you underpay and your bottom line suffers if you overpay. Keeping track of the trip is critical as each mile matters for the driver and the company. Trip sheets are a very common practice even in the days of smart technology. The additional work for the driver to track miles can be burdensome. Manual data entry and calculations at the end of the week are time consuming and error prone. Why not allow this process to proceed organically throughout the week as the trips are completed? Using LoadPanel and the LoadPanel Driver App both you and the driver are current on the milage driven and money earned.

As each trip is created milage is automatically calculated with the Google Maps API integration. Adjustments can be made for special truck routing to accommodate road conditions or restrictions. As new expenses are incurred they are added to the trip. At the end of the pay period all that is left to do is generate the settlement.

Run Payroll – just click

In smaller trucking companies, driver pay is mostly calculated by milage or percentage of the trip rate. LoadPanel allows a driver to be configured as a company driver or an owner operator. The calculated pay will be based on these settings. Fixed expenses can be automatically added during the settlement generation and any unexpected deductions can be easily applied at the same time. An overwrite exception allows manual adjustment to the milage in case the software milage calculation is off.

Once all the numbers check out the settlement is finalized. The settlement page can be downloaded as a pdf file or emailed directly to the drivers. Each settlement has detailed trip information for the period, any additional deductions or compensation as well as year-to-date totals. Now what is left is to generate a paper check or a direct deposit for the total amount due to the driver.

… just one click generates the payroll for a whole week with all the deductions and adjustments!

Owner of Integrity Freight LLC

If you are operating a trucking business with fewer than 100 trucks, you need reliable, web-based truck management software which has a simple settlement feature among many other functions. Our team at LoadPanel will get you setup and using our service at no charge. Try the LoadPanel 30-day free trial.

Categories
Features & Updates

LoadPanel Update: Driver App

LoadPanel Driver App – Now Available

Our mobile app for drivers is now available for installation on both iOS and Android platforms. After many months of development our team has released the first version of the mobile app to compliment our LoadPanel environment. Our desire is that this app will simplify the communication process between dispatchers and drivers by providing up-to-date information about the assigned loads.

Load Details

Each assigned load is color-coded showing the ActivePending and Completed trips. The quick reference card shows the pickup and drop locations as well as an estimated distances from the app user’s location. Clicking the card reveals a detailed view of the assigned load.

Navigation

Each pickup and drop location presents an arial map view for quick familiarization with the facility. Detailed pickup or drop-off information is also available on this screen. A quick go-to button can send the address to the navigation app such as Google Maps for a complete turn-by-turn directions.

Communication

Each screen has a context-aware communication button in the upper right corner. When viewing a particular assigned load the button reveals all the necessary communication information – allowing dialing with a single push.

The built in messaging capability allows for chatting between the driver and dispatch. The centralized messaging provides for traceable communication and auditing of conversations. Each appointment location allows for quick in and out time updates by the driver for precise reporting and tracking.

Documents

Anytime during the trip the driver may upload documents which will be available for dispatch to accept or reject after proper review. 

Earnings

The top porting of the home screen shows the number of tripsearnings and miles driven for the given time frame. Currently this is an experimental function which estimates both the earnings as well as the miles driven and should not be relied upon for any compensation. 

IN/OUT Times

The driver may choose to report in and out times through the app which will save time in having to make or answer tracking phone calls. The times are reported to dispatch and are displayed on the timeline.

Comments

Each trip allows for comments that can be both left by the driver as well as dispatchers. This function is not intended to be a chat function but rather a method to leave notes and updates about the trip for future reference.

Download and Enable

Download and install the app on your device of choice and enable it for each driver in their profile. Each driver needs a unique phone number and password set in the profile in order to login. 


Thank you to all who visited our booth at the 2019 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY this year. We had an exciting three days, meeting hundreds of people and engaging in various conversations about the trucking industry and LoadPanel as a TMS of choice. 

Categories
Features & Updates

LoadPanel Update: Driver Settlements, Recurring Expenses And More

Driver Pay and Recurring Expenses

While we have not been consistent with our blog and newsletter updates, we have been busy this winter working on major updates and improvements to LoadPanel. One of the most frequent requests have centered around a driver pay feature. In the latest update we’ve added a Driver Settlements section. Keep in mind that this feature is still in beta and may contain minor bugs. Let us know if you find anything out of place or not performing as intended. 

Driver Settlements

This feature is not intended to be a complete payroll solution but rather is designed to satisfy most small business while complimenting those who have an existing accounting system. We’ve designed our pay periods to be adjustable and to fit any situation. The selection of multiple drivers allows for a single click payroll creation. The individualized payroll PDF reports/stubs can then be printed or emailed directly to the drivers.

Split Trip

In order to solve the issue of compensation for unfinished loads, we now allow splitting trips. Doing so, enables the administrator to choose the percentage of the completed trip that should be included in the selected pay period while retaining the remainder for when the load is finally delivered and completed. This method solves some of the struggles that companies have who pay drivers on a weekly schedule. 

Driver Expense Wizard

Another powerful tool that has been long in coming is the driver expense wizard. The special feature has the ability to create recurring expenses which can be applied immediately, repeated over multiple pay periods or scheduled to be added in the future. The various driver expenses and recurring payment on debt can now easily be tracked and billed. 

Quick Adjustments and History

The various driver deductions can be reviewed and adjusted before completing the payroll. Removing a scheduled expense does not remove it from the driver and will associate it on the next pay cycle. All the historical driver pay and the new expenses table have been added to the driver page. 

Final Note

Please let us know what you think of these features and how they are serving your needs. We continue to improve and desire to become the leading TMS solution for the small trucking business environment. 


Feel free to email us directly or contact us from the app with any suggestions, comments, or concerns. We’re here to make your life easier.

Categories
Features & Updates

LoadPanel Update: New Trip Setup Experience

New Trip Setup Interface

As summer comes to an end, we are shifting into high gear with improvements to the LoadPanel interface and additional new features. The trip creation and setup window has been transformed into an easy-to-use tool allowing dispatchers to visualize the trip on a map, calculate the CPM, and estimate the travel time. 

Quick Setup

The Add Stop button facilitates quick trip planning, giving dispatchers the option to enter a city and state or just a zip code. Stop options include Current LocationPickDrop, and Deadhead. The Recalculate button computes the distance between the entered locations and displays the mileage and the resultant Trip CPM based on the entered Rate.

Map Power

Further refinement of the travel route can be done by simply dragging waypoints on the displayed Google map. For ease of use, the map can be expanded to full screen using the button in the upper-right hand corner. Traffic information is overlaid for additional awareness and decision making. Switching to satellite or street view can assist with critical last-mile navigation. 

Additional Trip Information

A new trip can be created without filling out additional date or address information. For those who choose to do so, trip information can be added by clicking the Edit icon for the specific stop. Further updating and editing of the stop information can be done through the primary trip page interface. 

Did You Know About the Columns Button on the Trips page?

The default Trips view has a number of hidden columns that some may find useful. Recent updates have expanded the available choices to include more than 20 column options!


Feel free to email us directly or contact us from the app with any suggestions, comments, or concerns. We’re here to make your life easier.

Categories
Features & Updates

Trips View: Color Coding Update

Ninety percent of information transmitted to the human brain is visual. Understanding this factor we have improved our color scheme on the Trips page. With a single glance, you as a dispatcher or administrator, can quickly be informed about the status of your loads.

Trips Interface

Beyond the textual information, color options have been added to enhance the usability experience. Each status now has its own color and can be configured in the Settings -> General section. The following colors are set as default:

Trip # Cell Status Colors

  •  Pending : Trips that are scheduled and are not active are in a grey box.
  •  Active : Trips that are currently in an active state are colored yellow.
  •  Delivered : Trips which have al completed appointments are green.
  •  Completed : The color changes to blue once the trip is marked as completed. This state indicates that all documents have been received and processed and the trip is considered closed.
  •  Canceled : Trips which are canceled are marked red. 

Appointment Cell Colors

  •  Active : Green cell color indicates that the current scheduled appointment is on-time.
  •  Alert : Red cell color indicates that there is a potential concern with the appointment. Possible causes are late arrival, unacknowledged timestamp or potential late arrival based on ELD data and distance. 
  • Pending or Complete: No color coding is used for future or completed trips.

Appointment Text Colors

  •  On-Time : Green date and time text indicates an on-time appointment that was either registered automatically based on location or acknowledged by dispatch.
  •  Late Arrival : Red text indicates that the set appointment time has been missed, not acknowledged or has been estimated by the ELD and location data to be late. 

Document Colors

The boxes for documents are set to change color according to the rules and color options found in Settings. 

  •  CON : Confirmation documents checkbox
  •  BOL : Bill of Lading document checkbox
  •  INV : Invoice checkbox

Did You Know About the DOC column?

The default Trips view has a number of hidden columns that some may find useful. One such column is DOC. Enabling this column reveals a red icon which is associated with the uploaded confirmation file. Clicking the icon displays the document in a pop-up view allowing the user quick reference.


Happy to help.

Feel free to message us directly from the app with any problems, suggestions or comments. We’re here to make your life easier.

Categories
Features & Updates

New Feature: Trip Planner

Here at LoadPanel, we not only innovate new features and services but also listen closely to our users. The new Trip Planner is an example of a solution to the problem of planning trips visually. Take a look and explore this feature found under the Trips menu. 

Trip Planner Interface

Each trip is blocked out for each driver on a vertical time-line.  Color coding of the trip boxes allows for quick analysis of trip progress. The dark-colored vertical bar indicates progress based on ELD and GPS data. Time spans between trips are displayed. Color coding on the appointment times is actively updated hourly.

Trip Information Panel

Clicking on any trip brings up a relevant information panel showing broker, driver, truck, trailer, pickup and delivery information. Enabled ELD trucks and drivers show relevant HOS information as well as the current location of the vehicle.

Compact and Mobile View

In addition we are continuing to improve our mobile interfaces for those who need to dispatch while on the go. In desktop mode the grey calendar button allows users to toggle between normal, compact and mobile views. 


Happy to help.

Feel free to message us directly from the app with any problems, suggestions or comments. We’re here to make your life easier.