Trucking Management Software: How to Choose the Right Fit (+ 14 Options)

Most trucking management software (TMS) providers claim to serve all types of trucking companies. However, these generic tools often fall short. 

For example, bulk haulers struggle with software designed for general freight dispatch. While most freight carriers handle three to four loads per truck per week on set routes, bulk haulers dispatch up to eight loads daily. 

As such, bulk haulers need a TMS that streamlines the administrative tasks for each load and offers flexibility for adjustments throughout the day.

Similarly, freight brokers require different tools. They need load board integrations and the ability to assess the profitability of each carrier—features that are irrelevant to carriers. 

In this guide, we’ll share the best trucking management software tools for different types of companies, comparing 14 options in the following categories: 

• Bulk haulers
• Brokerages
• Enterprises
• Small fleets
• Less-than-truckload (LTL) and heavy haul
• Specialist trucking

We’ll start with an in-depth review of how our software, Toro TMS, enables bulk haulers to:

• Reduce manual data entry across your business, from dispatch to invoicing, cutting back-office tasks by 70%.
  
  
• Decouple growth from headcount, allowing you to add trucks to your operations without hiring additional dispatchers.
  
  
• Gain real-time visibility into your loads, trucks, drivers, and business profitability. 

Ready to see how Toro TMS can help your trucking business? Book a demo with our team.

If you’re a bulk hauler, you’ll need three key things from a TMS. It should:

• Provide a dispatch system your dispatch teams love. If dispatchers don’t fully adopt your TMS, you’ll end up paying for unused software. Choose a tool that lets your team see what loads need to go where and who’s available—in real-time and on one screen. This will help them manage more loads and allocate resources efficiently.
  
  Read more: How to choose a dispatch software for trucking your teams will actually use
   

• Eliminate double data entry while capturing all necessary information. As a bulk hauler, you’ll need to collect various data points for each load—scale ticket or BOL numbers, commodity quantities like tonnage or gallons, mileage, hours, etc. Your TMS should capture this data once, from order receipt to invoicing.
  
  
• Offer tools drivers will actually use. In our experience, drivers don’t want to sign into an app or portal to collect dispatch instructions and submit documentation. And if they don’t use the solution, you’ll be stuck manually entering ticket information—regardless of how the TMS works for the rest of your business.
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We designed Toro TMS to specifically support both dry and liquid bulk haulers, reducing the time that dispatchers, back-office teams, and drivers spend on paperwork. 

As a result, companies using Toro have saved two to three hours every day, allowing them to focus less on operational tasks and more on tasks that drive business growth. 

Toro is user-friendly, and we guarantee a response to customer service requests within 30 minutes during business hours (9AM–9PM ET). This commitment has helped us achieve a 4.9 rating on G2. 

Next, we’ll share how Toro TMS excels in addressing the three key factors mentioned above. 

Effortlessly build & schedule loads with a system dispatchers love

We’ll start with dispatch because everything in your trucking business hinges on what happens there. Get dispatch right, and your teams downstream won’t have to re-enter data for driver pay, customer invoicing, tax declarations, or accounting.

That’s why we designed Toro with a dispatch dashboard your team will love. With Toro, you can:

• Build loads instantly and in bulk using templates that capture all necessary data.
• Assign loads based on real-time driver availability (and easily make edits).
• Track drivers’ live progress with ELD tracking.

Let’s break down these three points. 

Build loads quickly with all the information dispatchers, drivers & back-office teams need

Bulk haulers often build the same loads repeatedly, even for recurring customers. Even if they’re already using a TMS, this manual process is time-consuming. 

Toro’s load templates streamline this process, allowing you to create loads in bulk. With a load template, you can capture essential data like:

• Customer information (physical address, contact details).
• Load details (tonnage, commodity type).
• Reference numbers (e.g., purchase orders).
• Pick up and delivery locations. 

These templates can be saved and reused for similar orders. Once loads are dispatched, information can be added or edited while the driver is still on the road. 

Essentially, the load is the core unit of a bulk hauling company. It’s the piece that connects dispatch with documentation, driver pay, invoices, and more. 

With Toro, the data you enter into a load is automatically populated across all downstream processes. For instance, to send out invoices, you won’t need to reenter load data or references—invoices can be sent out in one click.

Assign loads effortlessly with a live picture of driver availability

Once you’ve created a load, sending it to drivers is simple in Toro TMS—just drag and drop the load into the driver’s calendar.

Alongside individual loads, Toro provides live visibility into driver availability, including what they’re working on, what they have scheduled, whether their truck needs maintenance, and any other commitments they have. All of this is on the same screen as the loads that need to be assigned. 

Driver details are pulled from their personal profile in Toro, where you can view:

• Their calendar and trip schedule
• Contact information
• Equipment and maintenance data
• HR information
• Pay preferences (hourly, per load, or per mile)

This makes scheduling loads easy for dispatchers and helps reduce data entry by capturing all necessary information in the system. 

Track the live progress of drivers with integrated ELD tracking

Toro integrates with electronic logging devices (ELDs) installed in each truck, giving your office real-time visibility into driver locations, completed deliveries, and estimated  delivery times for upcoming loads. 

This automation eliminates the need for drivers to manually update their status.

Customers also benefit from Toro’s customer portal, where they can track deliveries and receive live ETAs.

Communicate with drivers in the way they prefer—by text message

Many TMS systems require drivers to use apps or sign in to online portals to communicate with office teams. However, after speaking with drivers during the development of Toro TMS, we found they prefer receiving load information via text message.

To simplify communication and ensure software adoption, Toro enables dispatchers to send all load details to drivers via text without the need for manual copying and pasting. 

Simply click “Send dispatch to driver” and Toro automatically generates a message with all necessary load information.

In the message, drivers will receive a unique link to upload relevant documentation for each load—no sign-in required. They can easily take a photo of a scale ticket or bill of lading and submit it, and that document will be immediately accessible for your back office. 

Toro also automatically extracts all the necessary data from these images, so your back office won’t need to manually input information—unless you prefer drivers to enter it themselves.

This system eliminates the need for drivers to manage piles of paperwork, and your back-office team can submit invoices without waiting for physical documents.

Cut time spent on double entry by 70% by integrating load data with back-office tasks

Toro TMS simplifies dispatching and driver management, and it also drastically reduces the time your back office spends on invoicing, driver pay, IFTA declarations, and accounting. 

All the information needed is automatically populated in the system, so you can:

• Process driver pay in a few clicks. Once a load is delivered, Toro automatically calculates pay—including fuel costs, distances, and time worked—based on their preferences (hourly, per mile, etc.).
  
  
• Generate and send customer invoices instantly. Once the load is delivered and the right documentation is submitted by drivers, your back office has everything it needs to file an invoice—such as mileages, BOL numbers, and driver pay details. 
  
  All your team needs to do is click “Create invoice”. This can be done in bulk—for instance for all of the loads delivered on a given day or week. 

• File IFTA declarations easily. With ELD vehicle tracking, Toro knows exactly how many miles have been driven in each state. It makes filing fuel tax declarations a breeze.
  
  
• Sync data to QuickBooks instantly. Once you’ve paid drivers and sent out your invoices, you can simply sync the data from Toro to QuickBooks to close your accounts. And unlike many other TMSs, Toro integrates with both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.
  
  Read more: QuickBooks trucking software: How to save 70% of time on back-office tasks

These administrative tasks take up valuable time. Toro TMS automates them, allowing your team to focus on growth—like engaging with customers.

Get real-time insight into the key metrics that matter to you

Toro TMS works as a system of record that collects all the data you need to run your trucking business. And with all that data at your fingertips, you can have the certainty you need about your revenue, expenses, and profitability:

• Track profitability by truck, driver, customer, route, or load. Toro helps you identify your most and least profitable drivers, customers, and commodities, to help you make decisions that drive business growth.
  
  
• Monitor the miles your drivers are covering empty. Generic accounting tools such as QuickBooks can’t give you trucking-specific insights such as empty miles. In Toro, you get the information you need to optimize your routes. 

• Receive maintenance alerts to avoid disruption. Toro notifies you when your trucks need servicing, so you can book in maintenance and ensure compliance before your next order. 

Toro TMS is designed to reduce the work of managing your day-to-day operations and enable you to focus on growing your business. To find out more about how it can work for you, book a demo with us.  

Key features freight brokers should look for in a trucking management solution include:

• Integrations with load boards and customer relationship management (CRM) tools 
• Features to source and validate carriers across multiple transport modes
• Ability to capture data on international routes and customs
• Reporting that breaks down profitability by carrier

If you’re a freight broker, consider the following tools:

2. Turvo

Turvo is a “collaborative logistics platform” best suited for freight brokers, though it also serves shippers, carriers, and third-party logistics providers.

Key features include:

• Integrations with load boards, freight indexes, telematics, and accounting systems.
• Rule-based automations to streamline shipment brokering to carrier groups and bid boards.
• A mobile app for driver communication and load tracking.
• Reporting tools that highlight trends in carrier performance, shipper reliability, and financial data. 

At the time of writing, Turvo has a 4.3-star rating on G2. 

3. Revenova

While Revenova builds solutions for all types of trucking companies, it has a TMS exclusively for freight brokers. 

Key features include:

• Tools for pricing, carrier engagement and negotiation, and load tracking.
• Integration with Revenova’s LaneIQ tool, which analyzes lanes and provides customer and carrier quotes.
• Automated quote requests with detailed load information.
• Features for international shipments, including support for multiple languages and currencies.

At the time of writing, Revenova has a 4.3-star rating on G2.

4. EKA Omni-TMS

EKA Omni-TMS is a TMS provider that aims to enhance logistics across all types of business and modes of transport. To that end, it has a well-integrated suite of products for brokers, carriers, and shippers.

For brokers, EKA works best when shippers and carriers are already using the platform, as its integrations and automations are stronger in these cases.

Other key features include:

• Load templates that are specifically designed for freight orders.
• Pricing tools that use historical data to inform the most competitive quotes.
• Boards to search for carriers and trucks and post loads.

At the time of writing, EKA Omni-TMS has a 4.2-star rating on G2.

5. Descartes Aljex

Unlike other platforms here, Descartes Aljex is specifically designed for freight brokers. It’s widely used by both truckload and LTL brokers, as well as trucking companies of all sizes.

Key features include:

• Dispatch automation to reduce manual entry and minimize errors when building loads.
• EDI messaging for customers and carriers to submit BOLs or other documents digitally.
• A broad network of carriers to ensure competitive pricing.
• Reporting tools for lane analytics and accounting. 

At the time of writing, Descartes Aljex has a 4.6-star rating on G2.

If you’re a trucking company with hundreds or even thousands of trucks, specific TMS tools are designed to meet your needs.

While you’ll require many of the same features as smaller fleets, consider these additional factors:

• Fully customizable software to fit your unique needs and large-scale operations.
• A modular structure to add only the tools and functions you need.
• Dedicated customer support for onboarding and troubleshooting. 

Enterprise solutions tend to be more expensive, so they’re only worth the investment if other tools don’t meet your requirements.

6. McLeod Software: LoadMaster

McLeod Software is a long-established brand in the trucking industry, known for LoadMaster, its integrated trucking dispatch management system. While newer solutions may offer a more modern and intuitive user experience, LoadMaster remains widely used.

Designed for brokers, 3PLs, carriers, and shippers, LoadMaster aims to be a comprehensive solution for trucking businesses, offering features such as:

• Planning, dispatch, and scheduling tools.
• ELD and telematics integrations.
• Truckload and LTL features.
• Financial analysis tools. 

With over 30 modules and 100+ integrations, LoadMaster offers a lot of functionality. However, it’s important to assess whether these features align with your specific needs.

At the time of writing, McLeod Software has a 4.1-star rating on G2.

7. Trimble

Trimble offers three software solutions for trucking enterprises with large fleets:

• TMW.Suite: A “truckload carrier TMS” built for enterprises.
• Truckmate TMS: Tailored for LTL use cases.
• Innovative TMS: Fully customizable to meet specific needs.

The key strength of Trimble’s offerings is their high level of customization, designed to be “tailor-made to your business”—whether you’re a shipper, carrier, or broker. However, this bespoke approach may not be necessary for many businesses, especially considering the higher cost.

It's worth noting that many reviewers cite Trimble’s interface as outdated, which contributes to its lower score on G2.

At the time of writing, Trimble has a 3.5-star rating on G2.

8. Prophesy Dispatch

Like McLeod, Prophesy is one of the longest-standing solutions in the TMS market. While it may not be as modern or intuitive as newer tools, it remains a powerful option, especially for those seeking an on-premise solution.

Key features include:

• A dedicated dispatch solution—Prophesy Dispatch TMS—for brokers, carriers, and LTL.
• Integrations with QuickBooks, Sage, and other accounting tools.
• The option of an online dispatch system (alongside the on-premise solution) for an additional fee.

At the time of writing, Prophesy has a 3.5-star rating on G2.

As there is for enterprises, there are dedicated TMS tools out there for the smallest fleets—such as companies with fewer than 10 trucks. These tend to be quite basic and affordable (but although they may claim to be free, any additional features usually come at a cost).

The consideration you’ll need to make is whether, at your size, you need to invest in a TMS solution at all. With a minimal number of drivers, you may manage with just a spreadsheet until you scale.

9. ITS Dispatch by Truckstop

ITS Dispatch offers solutions for various company sizes, including a plan tailored for owner-operators with one or two trucks. This plan includes:

• Tools for invoicing, driver settlements, and IFTA reporting, with QuickBooks integration.
• A customer database.
• A custom dashboard with reporting and business statistics.

However, the Owner-Operator plan lacks driver communication tools. To avoid reentering dispatch information, you'll need to upgrade to at least the Carrier plan, designed for fleets with three or more trucks.

At the time of writing, ITS Dispatch has a 4.1-star rating on G2.

10. AscendTMS

AscendTMS calls itself the "Don't Pay Us TMS," but it isn’t entirely free. It offers three pricing plans—Basic, Premium, and Pro.

Basic features include:

• Load management and optimization.
• Customer and driver management.
• Back-office processes, including invoicing and payroll.

The dispatch screen is designed around columns and rows, giving it a spreadsheet-like feel. This may work for some, but it might not offer much more than your current system.

One notable benefit is that AscendTMS offers free, ongoing training.

At the time of writing, AscendTMS has a 4.4-star rating on G2.

Trucking companies specializing in less-than-truckload (LTL) orders typically face more complex pick-up and delivery schedules than those managing full truckloads (FTL). 

Efficiently handling multiple drop-offs for different customers on the same trip requires dedicated software. Useful features include:

• The ability to manage multiple orders per truck.
• Route optimization to improve delivery sequencing.
• Customer communication tools to ensure accurate deliveries.

11. Truckbase

Truckbase is a dispatch solution designed for asset-based carriers with up to 100 trucks, particularly excelling in LTL load management.

Key features include:

• Multi-load tracking for oversight on partial loads, not just trucks.
• Real-time notifications based on the status of each load.
• Revenue insights broken down by loaded mile.
• Excellent customer service.

At the time of writing, Truckbase has a 5-star rating on G2.

12. TruckLogics

TruckLogics is a versatile TMS for various trucking companies. While its dispatch functionality is primarily geared toward FTL truckers, it includes an LTL feature for easier management of partial loads.

Key features include:

• Dispatching per truck or per load.
• Generating separate documentation and delivery notifications for each customer load.
• Route optimization through integrations with Google Maps and ProMiles.

At the time of writing, TruckLogics has a 4.6-star rating on G2.

If you’re a trucking company that doesn’t fit into the above categories, there are still TMS solutions for you. 

For example, if you specialize in over-the-road (OTR) trucking, a solution designed for bulk haulers may meet your needs. Compared to bulk haulers, OTR truckers generally have lower data entry demands, as you’ll be dispatching fewer loads per truck each day. Bulk hauling software can easily handle the tasks of creating OTR loads, dispatching trucks, and generating invoices. 

However, if you manage specialist trucks, commodities, or routes, you may consider an alternative solution.

13. Axon Software

Axon Software is a TMS offering solutions for dispatch, ticket management, accounting, and fleet management. It’s particularly aimed at specialized fleets in industries such as oilfield and petroleum, auto transport, waste management, and livestock.

Key features include:

• Custom configurations to meet the compliance needs of specialized vehicles.
• A platform that matches specific loads with the appropriate equipment and drivers, such as tow trucks or vehicles designed for livestock transport.

At the time of writing, Axon Software has a 4.2-star rating on G2.

14. Shyftbase

Shyftbase is a supply chain solution for logistics companies managing the entire product lifecycle, extending beyond just trucking. It caters to businesses involved in first- and last-mile delivery, as well as warehousing.

Key features include:

• Customizability to fit specific workflows.
• Robust analytics for analyzing routes, carriers, and customers, helping identify inefficiencies.
• Real-time visibility on loads across various transport modes.

At the time of writing, Shyftbase is not yet listed on G2.

Toro TMS: The trucking management software for bulk haulers

In this guide, we’ve covered key features to consider when choosing a trucking management software. Ultimately, you need a solution that fits your specific business and workflow.

If you’re a bulk hauler managing multiple loads per truck daily, Toro TMS was built for you. 

With Toro TMS, you can:

• Streamline dispatching for dispatchers and drivers.
• Cut back-office task time by 70%.
• Enable business growth without increasing office workload.

When you partner with Toro TMS, we’ll come to your office in person to help you get set up and running. Plus, contact us, and we’ll get back to you within 30 minutes (9am–9pm ET).

Want to see how Toro TMS can work for you? Book a demo with us today. 

FAQs

What are the key features of trucking management software?

The key features of trucking management software to look for include:

• Dispatch functionality: Ensures quick load assignment with a single-screen view, enabling dispatchers to work efficiently. If dispatchers don’t love your tool, it won’t create the value for your business that it should.
  
  
• Communication tools: Most drivers prefer text-based communication, so choose tools that drivers actually want to use.
  
  
• Automations: Your TMS should reduce manual data entry across processes like driver settlements, IFTA reporting, and invoicing, allowing you to focus on growth.
  
  
• Integrations: Whether that’s QuickBooks for accounting, Geotab for vehicle tracking and route optimization, or something else entirely, it should integrate with your TMS software.
  
  
• Reporting: Your TMS should provide visibility on the metrics and insights that matter most—so you can make informed decisions about driver performance, fuel management, and commodities and customers.

What are the benefits of trucking management software?

The right TMS drives growth while improving day-to-day operations:

• Decouple growth from headcount: Typically, trucking companies assume that adding trucks means hiring another dispatcher. With the right TMS that speeds up dispatch and reduces double entry, you can grow your business without increasing admin workload.
  
  
• Minimize the risk of mistakes: Reentering data increases the risk of human error. A TMS that allows you to enter data once mitigates this risk.
  
  
• Collect cash faster: With a TMS like Toro, you can invoice customers immediately after deliveries via the driver portal, reducing delays in payment.
  
  
• Gain clarity on profitability and costs: Real-time data on revenue—broken down by vehicles, drivers, routes, commodities, and customers—helps you make better business decisions.
  
  
• Make life more enjoyable for your dispatchers and back-office teams: While it might sound like we’re promising too much, a TMS reduces repetitive tasks and minimizes stress, improving team efficiency.