We have our own TMS, yet it is inefficient to manage available loads because things are constantly changing. Creating a new load in our TMS for each available load doesn't make a lot of sense when there is so much detailed information that must be added that isn't relevant unless you are actually booking the load. Instead, I wanted a simple spreadsheet to manage available loads separate from our TMS.
Initially, I started by trying to manage available loads using DAT's example spreadsheet for bulk uploads. This worked ok, but you have to constantly delete entire rows when loads become unavailable, and re-enter it again when they become available. Beyond that, I wanted some additional niceties such as separating loads by customer, auto-calculating mileage for the lane and being able to share it with my team so we can all use/edit it simultaneously. So, I went ahead and built my own solution that works well -- in my opinion -- and decided to share it with any other brokers out there who might be interested..
I did base my solution on DAT's example spreadsheet for bulk uploads, so I can still upload a CSV or XLS with all available loads.to DAT. It takes a bit of using to become familiar, but I provided a README page within the spreadsheet to get you up to speed quickly.
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You'll need a Google Drive account in order to use it. Just make a copy of it so you own it, and follow the instructions on the README sheet.
I would categorize the spreadsheet as a beta version. Everything should be working, but let me know if you run into any bugs.
I hope you find it as useful as I do. Any questions, comments and feedback are appreciated.
Load Sheet v0.0.1 | A Google Sheet for Managing Available Loads
Discussion in 'Freight Broker Forum' started by _levi_, Aug 28, 2019.