Paperless files....

Your going to need some one to do the paperwork while your on the road. All it comes down to is how you do your paperwork ik that some people use exel and othets just makes folders to put there papers in,i recomend getting a loptop and getting it setup to connect to your desk top it may be a bit expensive to do but you would be able to keep up with your paperwork while on the road

 

It's always a good idea to have backup just in case your hard drive crashes or some other disaster occurs. You can copy everything to a jump drive, use an online backup service, or email yourself a copy of your files each night (assuming you have plenty of storage).

 

My only advice is to organize the paperwork before scanning -- that way the electronic files are in some sensible order...

 

Paperless? As much as I can be. I have a laptop that has Quicken for the Accounting. Acrobat to read and write PDF. Most brokers use PDF for the paperwork. The occasional people that use Microsoft/excel, I use an app on my phone to convert to pdf and than send to my laptop to fill out and send back as a PDF. When I get home I sync with my PC in the house and everything is updated. All the email is accessible from any computer so I don't save to a cloud. My logs are fill in the blank so that is paper I keep.
Permits I download and print in truck. Not paperless.
Not that hard to set up. Just buy a laptop with the needed software. Easy. Good luck.

 

A Neat scanner works great. You scan it in and you name the file and location. I would also recommend a Cloud Back up service. IRS does not require paper if you have an electronic file, hence the Cloud Backup. You can access your Cloud backup anywhere.

You can also use Drop Box on your phone, drag your file to it and it puts it in a virtual Cloud and once your home laptop is on, it downloads to your drop box on your computer. Simply a folder.

I work out of my house using DropBox for files, a Neat Scanner, external drives, and a cloud backup, plus MS Word.

PM me if you need more info.

Mark

 

You don't need any special software. Just a cheap, no more than $100 scanner/printer/fax, and a laptop. Scan your paperwork, rename that file, create a folder and drop it in there. You can get cheap USB zip drives from Wal Mart to transfer those folders to periodically for a backup. With us anymore I've gotten to where I scan practically nothing. I take pics of POD and email those in as soon as I'm empty, somehow or another they print that off and invoice the load. Pic has to be clear though. No need for apps, software or anything. Amazing what you can do with just a phone these days. I probably won't even buy another laptop when my current one dies.

 

For on-the-road scanning you can have a multi-function printer in your truck and/or an app for your phone, or just use the camera (which the scan apps use, but the app will convert pictures to PDF documents). I used both; Cam Scanner on the phone, and a wireless HP printer in the truck (the printer can be accessed with my phone as well). I could send and receive load info, permits, border info and any other required paperwork easily and cheaply (lots of free wifi available so there is no need to pay the usurious truck stop fax rates). Scan receipts, bill of lading, proof of delivery, etc. I could have the proof of delivery in my office within five minutes delivering, even in remote areas, so long as there was cell service available.

Just set up a filing system on the computer using file folders and file names that works for you... really no different than how you would do it with hard-copy.

There are a number of free file back-up/synchronization services available (I use Google Drive) which is very nice because you not only have a back-up (can be as current as the last time you turned your computer/device on) of your files, but you can have access from any computer/device (lose yours, get a replacement and be back in business in minutes, or access your account from someone else's computer/device) and virtually any location (on the road and there is a dispute with the office/broker regarding a load in the past? You can access/email it from virtually anywhere).

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has also come a long way in recent years. This is important because a number of programs/devices can be used to scan and digitize/sort information on credit card and bank statements, invoices, business cards, etc... even handwritten notes can be recognized and converted to digital format so they are searchable by word(s).

I also have a very good scanner at home (ScanSnap) for doing higher volumes of paper and/or better quality, digitizing and sorting.