TRUX: A Comprehensive Dump Truck Management Platform

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Jeffrey Gower, CEO

Founded in 2016, TRUX delivers a classic two-sided cloud-based dump truck logistics platform that synchronizes demand with supply. While on the demand side, contractors can use the TRUX platform to post requests for hauling different types of construction materials, on the supply end, the platform enables truck operators to search and acquire transport opportunities seamlessly. It delivers the capability to manage the payment and collection process through a cloud-based mobile app which ultimately benefits both the truckers and the contractors.

TRUX primarily includes three distinct capabilities in its value chain: material production, transportation, and a process that connect dispatchers, producers, truckers, and contractors digitally. Below are the insights provided by Jeffrey Gower, the CEO of TRUX on the way that the company’s platform takes the slack out of the equation by offering complete and flexible dump truck management.

What are the pain points that the TRUX platform can overcome?

We are solving three major problems:

The historical demand and supply problem. The platform can increase the trucking supply by creating more jobs. This leads to more truckers getting involved and demands getting addressed.

Inefficiency in operations. 50 percent of trucking in the construction business is dead-head, which essentially means that the truck goes out full but comes back empty. We provide a marketplace to solve this predicament by ensuring that the truckers can minimize the amount of time their trucks are empty.

Wastage of cost and time. Frequently, labor is waiting for the material to show up at a job site to initiate the construction process, which leads to a costly waste of time. To this end, our platform synchronizes the different activities and creates more efficiency.

How does the platform work for the clients?

We deliver a singular, cloud-based, and containerized platform to our clients. They can interact with the platform through the different types of devices that they are using. Dispatchers can use the platform on a desktop, and similarly drivers or onsite contractors can access it through their iOS or Android-based mobile devices.

The platform offers the contractors, materials producers, and government agencies with in-depth market insights into the dump truck ecosystem.

These insights essentially enable the stakeholders to materialize better fleet utilization, industry-leading estimating and bidding, secure communication, transparency, and lower operating costs.

TRUX also houses a complete transport management system (TMS) which can track the trucks and cater to making them available with increasing demands

TRUX also houses a complete transport management system (TMS) which can track trucks and cater to making them available when the demand increases. Our clients can immediately go into the platform and post transport requirements by entering their information and instructions individually for each trucker. The information can also be replicated to as many truckers as necessary. We will then issue these client requests to different truckers, and they can plan the entire transport operation.

We centralize the dispatching, routing, and loading through a singular platform. The clients can get all information they would need about a vehicle or material on our platform, and they can track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as load utilization, and load cycle analysis as well. They get to analyze the efficiency of cycle times while considering factors such as the road’s condition, load on the truck, and weather. Through our experience, we have found out that many of these variables are highly predictable and thus we have fed this information in our system to help dispatchers monitor cycle time. And should they increase beyond the entered threshold, the platform can notify them and enable them in re-synchronizing the activity. This allows them to create an efficient cost-per-load workflow and reduce costs at the same time as the contractors and dispatchers can update the trucks’ logistical stance accordingly.

Please elaborate on the platform’s built-in payment feature.

We pay the truckers weekly through our payment model, which mitigates significant problems in the industry associated to truckers’ monthly payments. We collect money from the contractors and material producers through our payment gateways in two ways: credit cards and ACH.

Over the last two decades, truck drivers’ incomes have been stagnant as the cost of living has increased. To solve this, they have to be paid in a fair manner, their expenses during delivery must be reduced, and more jobs must be created for them. We have built a component called TRUX Chrome, which is a procurement platform where we use volume purchasing to reduce fuel, tire, and maintenance prices, and also provide them with insurance and financing options. These measures can lower costs incurred by truckers during transport operations which can amount to $40,000 annually.

What lies ahead in the future for TRUX?

There are three dimensions that we will be concentrating on in the next 12-18 months. Geographically, we will be expanding to the 50 largest metros in the U.S. We have invested time and money in 2018 toward this goal by tying up partnerships that will allow us to scale to a national footprint.

Secondly, we will be expanding our services in the marketplace and will also start a service to export construction materials, which has never been done before in the business. We will also be operationalizing value-added services, which might include data analytics services and inventory management solutions. Lastly, we are also planning to expand to adjacent markets such as flat and tanker trucks. There are many different elements that we can offer to create efficiencies within the construction chain, and going forward, and we will be following a path toward ultimate innovation.