Large trucking companies have widely offered online shipment tracking, allowing customers to check the status of their shipments at their convenience on services such as Swift Load Tracker, JB Hunt Quick Load Tracking, or Prime Load Tracing. Carriers have been hugely successful in using these systems to attract new customers, since shippers and consignees have come to expect the instant tracking updates that were popularized by FedEx and UPS. Tracking technology has been slow to trickle down to smaller fleets, as the cost of setting up and maintaining the infrastructure is typically in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Owner-Operators have suddenly turned the tables in the past month, offering their customers an online tracking system that displays the exact location of their shipments, along with images of the freight and shipping documents. How? Drivers are downloading “See It Ship,” an app that uses the GPS and camera built in to smartphones to create an advanced shipment tracking system that operates from the driver’s own phone. Drivers simply give their shipment a name, and their customers receive a link to a map that shows the shipment’s location, as well as any images of shipping documents or freight that the driver uploads.
We really like the idea of independent truckers having free access to a technology that goes beyond what mega carriers are using. Let us know if you hear of other apps that help owner-operators.
Jake C. says
You weren’t kidding about being impressive. It would save us a lot of headaches if all of our customers had access to this trucking information. So from what I understand the trucking outfit has to have the software installed with their GPS system?
Does the trucker supply us with a tracking number and we have to install the application? If you could answer a few more questions that would be great. Feel free to email me.
See It Ship says
Hello Jake,
Thanks for the compliment! It’s actually simpler than that, let me try to clarify:
The driver downloads the See It Ship app from the Apple App Store or Android Market onto his smartphone. When the driver launches the app and creates a shipment, he can use the app to immediately email you a link that will take you directly to the shipment’s tracking page on seeitship.com. Alternatively, he can send you the shipment’s 9-digit tracking number, which will also take you to the shipment’s tracking page when entered on seeitship.com.
Either way, no hardware, software, or app downloads are required to view the shipment’s tracking page. It’s just as easy as tracking a FedEx or UPS package.
Please let me know if I need to explain that better or if you have any additional questions.
-Sam
Jake C. says
Is there add space on the app? I’m thinking it would be a perfect opportunity to put some under the tracking info. Just a thought for some fundraising 😉
Thanks for the response.
Jerry Leon Harris, Sr. says
This is a great inovation I feel will eventually be required for all companies, but as sure as all companies have them, some thief will come up with a way to disconnect or disable the system, maybe even redirect the satilite away from the actual load itself by placing it on another moving vehicle going in the opposite direction(just a thought).