Dial-a-truck

DAT Solutions, (or DAT) originally Dial-a-Truck, (also formerly named DAT Services and TransCore DAT) is an electronic freight posting service ("load board") and provider of transportation information serving North America. It was established in 1978.[1]

Before the service, truck drivers seeking loads left handwritten notes on a bulletin board at the Jubitz Truck Stop in Portland, Oregon, U.S. for shippers and freight brokers seeking truckers to move their freight. Jubitz began posting the loads on a monitor at the truck stop and charging drivers a fee for the phone number of the company wanting to move freight. By 2001, there were 1,200 load board monitors in the United States powered by DAT. Subscribers access the DAT Network’s load and truck information via fax, voice, software, mobile, web, or server to server integration, as well as load board monitors at truck stops.

On February 3, 2001, TransCore purchased DAT. TransCore was acquired by Roper Technologies (NYSE: ROP) in 2004. In February 2014, DAT officially changed its name to DAT Solutions. Both TransCore and DAT Solutions are currently wholly owned subsidiaries of Roper Technologies. [2]

The underlying DAT Network is the largest exchange for spot market freight, hosting almost 100 million freight loads and trucks per year, as of 2015.[3] The network consists of several load board subscription services, which include DAT Power, DAT Express for small to midsize carriers, freight brokers and shippers, and TruckersEdge for Owner Operators.

DAT also provides the industry's only real-time truckload freight rate service, DAT RateView, based on $28 billion of transactions annually from actual "broker-buy" rates (what freight brokers pay carriers) and shipper-to-carrier contract rates. RateView provides complex lane and pricing analyses that can be used to make routing decisions.[4]

The company also offers several other products designed for carriers, freight brokers, shippers and owner operators, including: carrier monitoring services, transportation management software, fleet compliance services, fleet tracking systems, and fuel cards, among others.[5]

History

In 1958, Monroe Jubitz, opened Fleet Leasing, Inc., a full-service truck leasing and maintenance company in Portland, Oregon. Moe expanded to provide fuel, food, and accommodations to truckers on the road, the origin of Jubitz Truck Stop. The trucking industry was deregulated in the 1970s, encouraging independent truck drivers and small companies to find extra loads rather than returning empty. Mr. Jubitz noticed drivers hanging around his truck stop after the usual meal and shower, hoping to find a load. So he decided to start signing up brokers and shippers who needed freight hauled from Portland. Son Albin Jubitz founded DAT (originally called Dial-A-Truck) in 1978, a subsidiary of the Jubitz Corporation.

He listed the loads on a monitor at his truck stop and charged the drivers a fee to get the phone number of the company wanting to move the freight. By the 1980s, DAT monitors could be found in hundreds of truck stops around the country, with thousands of truck drivers and shippers subscribing.

On February 3, 2001, TransCore acquired DAT Services, including the 1,200 truck stop monitors where drivers could find loads while on the road.

Also in 2001, TransCore purchased DM Computing, makers of Keypoint Software, a transportation management software for freight brokers. One year earlier, TransCore purchased Viastar Services, provider of fuel, cash management, and fleet compliance services for the trucking industry. Keypoint and the fleet compliance services later become part of DAT Solutions.

In 2004, TransCore was acquired by Roper Technologies.

In February 2014 – TransCore DAT announced that it officially changed its company name to DAT Solutions.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "DAT website".
  2. ↑ "DAT blog".
  3. ↑ "DAT Company Page".
  4. ↑ ""When freight matching meets big data", Commercial Carrier Journal, October 23, 2013".
  5. ↑ "DAT Products".
  6. ↑ "DAT Company History".

External links


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