3 Things Every Drayage Trucking and Brokerage Company Should Know About Technology

1. Tell us a little about yourself and what you most liked about PortPro when you joined the company.

I am so excited to be at PortPro. We are building a world-class sales team of trusted advisors to help new customers digitize their businesses, embrace technology's benefits, and replace current, manually driven, and costly processes. 

I’m a technologist at heart, having worked with highly successful start-ups and national brands including Indeed, AOL, Wachovia, and Capital One Bank.  My responsibilities were driving revenue growth and scaling new products to global audiences and I love that I get to do this at PortPro.  It was PortPro’s technology, leadership, and internal culture that made my decision to join a no-brainer. 

Another important factor about joining PortPro is their 6 key values which align with my own. 

1. Always do the right thing

2. Good energy only

3. Lead by example

4. Be a team player

5. Show up ready

6. Be proactive

Drayage is such a critical part of the supply chain, yet it is rooted in manual processes that make it challenging for drayage carriers to grow and be competitive. I love that PortPro has a laser focus on this industry and brings a real solution to the table. We’re selling a state-of-the-art TMS platform that solves a multitude of problems for its customers and is reliable and user-friendly.

2. What are the biggest challenges you see carriers face when it comes to adopting new technology?

The biggest challenge for carriers and brokers is overcoming the manual processes of doing business. Too many of these companies are still working off of Excel spreadsheets or stuck with legacy server-based systems with Windows 98-like interfaces. This old way of doing things prevents them from operating efficiently. 

Ultimately, it prevents them from being competitive and achieving the growth they deserve. A lack of visibility across the board makes it difficult for them to be good vendors to their clients and partners to their drivers and/or third-party carriers.

3. What is PortPro’s approach to selling its TMS platform and why is it unique to others out there?

Great selling is not rocket science, but it does require active listening and identifying the root causes of a potential customer’s problems. At PortPro, we start every call with a discovery session – to learn all we can about a carrier or broker – their challenges, fears, and opportunities for growth.  We want our customers to leave a call thinking – “Wow I never thought of that” – and to have confidence in our ability to provide a solution to their problems. Our goal is to be a trusted advisor. We care deeply about our customer's success. That’s why we put a ton of effort and investment into the onboarding process to guarantee success, and to build a continuous feedback loop into the process so that we are always learning what more we can do.

4. Adopting new technology is always hard…because it’s a change. Talk about the biggest challenges you face here with customers and what you are doing about it.

Change is hard. Period.  Too often we see drayage carriers and brokers shy away from purchasing new technology because they’re afraid of change. We get it. Part of our sales process is to address the adoption of the platform up front –  and demonstrate how we help them to get their entire team on board – through a customized adoption plan.  We guide customers every step of the way and help them stay on track with dedicated PortPro specialists. Our head of Customer Onboarding, Eric Shure, goes into detail about adoption in his blog.

5. What are 3 things every drayage trucking and brokerage company should know about technology?

1. Adoption of new technology doesn’t have to be painful. In fact, it can even be fun; we show our customers how!

2. 2025 is shaping up to be a hyper-competitive year with freight rates. This is the window of time when carriers and brokers should take advantage of technology and operate more efficiently than ever. Differentiation and value-added services have never played a more important role in drayage.Impact on work/life balance.

3. No longer do you need a 70-hour work week – technology can help reduce manual processes – freeing up time for you to be more strategic with your customers and focus on growing the business and spending more time with family and friends.