Trucker Tools, Gorilla Safety Partner to Expand Real-time Visibility for Truckload Shipments

RESTON, VA and HOUSTON, TX – APRIL 29, 2021 – Freight brokerages, logistics providers and truckload shippers are gaining another reliable resource for timely and comprehensive shipment tracking data thanks to an agreement announced today between digital freight management technology provider Trucker Tools and Gorilla Safety, which provides industry-leading fleet performance, safety, risk management and ELD compliance solutions.

Gorilla Safety deploys a full-scope fleet management solution that gives fleet managers insights into and control over a wide range of fleet safety, operational productivity, and regulatory hours of service (HOS) compliance activities. Its in-cab ELD unit automates HOS recording, administration and reporting, and provides real-time location data through its embedded GPS features.

Trucker Tools is building an integration that will deliver real-time location updates from installed Gorilla Safety ELD units, into the Trucker Tools Smart Capacity® visibility and digital freight matching platform. The integration will provide Trucker Tools customers with more comprehensive shipment visibility data, complementing current data streams captured through the Trucker Tools mobile driver app, which provides smartphone-based GPS-supported location updates as frequently as every 15 minutes.

“The end goal is to reduce the burden on drivers, make their life easier and more efficient,” noted Jeremy Feucht, Gorilla Safety’s vice president of product. “We’re eliminating the need to manually provide tracking updates, so drivers no longer have to field those annoying ‘check calls’ from brokers.” He noted other benefits as well:

• Driver privacy, since the data is coming from the ELD unit and not the driver’s smartphone, eliminating driver concerns about being tracked when not in the truck or not moving a load, and;
• Security and control since the provision of the ELD data is “opt-in” by the driver and can only be initiated with driver permission.

“Drivers can be secure in the fact that their privacy is protected,” said Feucht. “And from a safety perspective they’re not being interrupted in the middle of driving by brokers or shippers calling about where their load is.”

Founded in 2013, Gorilla Safety has grown into one of the industry’s leading fleet performance management and ELD solution providers, serving larger fleets as well as mid-market and smaller fleets, Feucht noted. He added that the market is highly fragmented, with more than 80 percent of capacity operated by small fleets and single-truck owner operators. “With a significant number of fleets running 20 or fewer units, it’s a very tight alignment with Trucker Tools’ user base,” Feucht noted.

Prasad Gollapalli, founder and chief executive of Trucker Tools, agreed. “It is those thousands of ‘micro’ truckload fleets and independent owner operators – and their broker-partners -- who are the most active users of Trucker Tools digital freight matching, one-click simplified automated booking, automated load tracking and carrier relationship management software and services,” he noted.

He added that the link-up of the two platforms comes at the request of multiple mutual customers. “Brokers and shippers want to be able to consume every piece of real-time data and intelligence about shipment progress they can get,” Gollapalli said. “We’re addressing that need and at the same time, enabling truckers who’ve adopted Gorilla Safety ELDs to easily respond to customers while increasing operating efficiency and gaining more utility from their investment.”

Feucht cited as well ease of use and a simple activation process. “All the driver or carrier needs to do provide a one-click response,” he noted. “We get the request from Trucker Tools, verify it, notify the carrier or driver, get their permission, and it’s done automatically.”

With the integration, truckers and fleets that have installed Gorilla Safety ELDs will be able to choose the Gorilla Safety ELD or the Trucker Tools mobile app for the provision of tracking data. The platform has built in rules and instructions that eliminate duplicate data and ensure accurate reporting, Gollapalli said.

The Trucker Tools Mobile Driver App, which was launched in 2013 and to-date has been downloaded by more than 1.2 million truckers, is among the most popular apps with truckload operators, consistently ranking as the most downloaded app in transportation each month. In addition to predictive freight-matching, automated booking, GPS-driven automated tracking and digital document management, the app has 17 of the most sought-after features and resources drivers want for managing their business while ion the road. The Trucker Tools platform also is the digital freight management solution of choice for over 300 freight brokers and 3PLs.

“We are pleased to welcome Gorilla Safety as one of our integration partners,” Gollapalli said. “This furthers our goal of providing truckload operators and freight brokers with effective tools and comprehensive, accurate data that delivers insights and intelligence leading to more efficient supply chains.”

The Trucker Tools mobile app is available for both Android- and Apple-powered smartphones and is provided free of charge to independent truckers and small fleets.