Aljex Software announced it will launch Aljex for Carriers, a Web-based management solution for truckload carriers. Aljex for Carriers shakes up the truckload software market by putting the industry’s smartest and easiest-to-use system on the Web, the company says; because costs are kept low and there’s no initial investment, Aljex for Carriers is the most cost-effective management solution available.
Currently finishing Beta testing, Aljex for Carriers will be available commercially beginning in April. Aljex for Carriers was developed at the request of and in close conjunction with Aljex 3PL customers who operate truck fleets and were dissatisfied with available trucking solutions.
“They wanted their trucking software to work as well as their Aljex brokerage software,” says Tom Heine, president of Middlesex, N.J.-based Aljex. “So we went to work with trucking people and created the hands-down best trucking software on the market — and in a form that brings carrier, driver and customer together on the Web.”
Aljex for Carriers is designed to enable busy managers to run operations and business from virtually any Internet-connected computer; at the carrier’s discretion, drivers and customers also can have access. For example, drivers can get dispatch and settlement information, while customers can check on load status; no separate company website is necessary, and Web maintenance is included in the low monthly cost of the software itself, the company says.
An Aljex-connected carrier needs nothing more than an Internet connection and free Web browser software such as Internet Explorer to do the job, the company says; that computer can be a desktop in an office, a laptop at home or a laptop in a truck cab. Aljex says this eliminates major upfront costs and virtually all the hassles: Customers do not have to install and maintain software, nor create and maintain a company website; they do not have to worry about backing up critical company data, since Aljex backs it up in multiple locations on a scheduled basis; and installing new software versions is a chore of the past because Aljex constantly updates the underlying software.
Once Aljex sets up a carrier account on its servers, access is available around the clock to whomever the carrier grants it, the company says. Authorized users enjoy a wide array of features — all standard — such as dispatch and operations management, integrated e-mail, customer management, Google mapping, quotes, load board access, invoicing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, fuel surcharge management and much more.
Aljex says there also are numerous options available, including an Electronic Date Interchange interface, which makes it possible to communicate electronically with large corporate and 3PL customers — a major plus for a carrier that intends to grow. Other options include factoring, a Quickbooks interface, document image management and graphical manifesting.
Document image management ensures that critical document images such as bills of lading will be kept with customer and shipment files and will be accessible instantly. Graphical manifesting enables carriers to visualize multiple shipment loads. Icons for individual load-to-ride shipments can be dragged and dropped in a representation of a trailer; when the load appears optimal, a manifest reflecting load order is printed.
