RoadSync CEO Says Digital Payments Keep Truckers on the Move

For truckers, every load is a business trip.

Rather than buying airfare or Uber or Lyft rides, though, they are paying for heavy truck repairs, towing, parking, truck washes and unloading fees at warehouse facilities.

“All of those things traditionally have been very paper-based and kind of difficult for them to complete the transactions because these vendors that support the ecosystem don’t really have a point of sale that allows them to easily invoice and take payments from truckers,” RoadSync CEO Robin Gregg told PYMNTS.

The result is often a waiting game of phone calls, lost receipts and other hassles.

RoadSync, which automates routine expenses, recently launched a direct payment solution that lessens the burden on the driver by streamlining the transaction between the broker/carrier and the warehouse merchant.

The company has a network of vendors that already use its platform to accept payments, and brokers and carriers ask for ways to make the process easier.

“They just want their drivers to show up at a facility and be able to complete a payment, and they want to be able to have visibility over that payment and be able to authorize it if one of their truckers came to a facility that required unloading fees,” Gregg said. “So that’s what we did.”

Completing Payments Quickly

With the new direct payment solution, RoadSync plugged its spend management platform to its mobile point of sale platform.

Now, when drivers go into a RoadSync merchant location, they just have to provide their cellphone number — the system will recognize whether they have a preauthorized payment in the system and will let them complete it with a click. Then, all that information and the receipt go back to the person who paid on the driver’s behalf.

“We think it makes it really, really easy for drivers to complete payment quickly,” Gregg said. “It reduces the steps when they’re at a vendor location.”

Traditionally, the industry has used fuel cards and fleet checks. With fleet checks, drivers would have to call dispatch, get a fleet check number, and supply it and all accompanying information to the merchant to complete payment. And fuel cards let drivers buy diesel — but not much beyond that.

The solution also serves as a companion product to those of fuel card companies because the user can bolt RoadSync’s spend management platform onto other products to automate fleet check payments with an extra layer of fraud protection.

Benefitting Both Sides of the Transaction

RoadSync Checkout also provides merchants a better way to accept payments, with better data capture, digital receipting, faster transactions and the ability to accept more types of payments. For payers, RoadSync Advance offers easier ways to issue payments to their drivers, better visibility, better tracking of what’s going on and receipt capture.

“It’s a benefit to both sides, and so we do sell the product to both sides,” Gregg said.

With today’s challenges in the supply chain, it’s even more compelling for the players in the trucking industry to make every efficiency improvement, Gregg said. It’s also important to be more desirable as a destination for drivers or as a broker or carrier to work with.

“Being easy to get funds, not getting stuck waiting for a payment, getting paid faster yourself — all of those things are wonderful ways to engage and get the best drivers,” Gregg said.