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The POD filed itself before the truck left the lot

Ironlake Cartage is a regional carrier we invented, with truck 14 heading home empty and a shipper asking for a load at 6:04 am.

Semi trailers parked in angled rows at a truck lot, seen from above

Before: days riding in cabs

Signed PODs rode in cabs for days, dock times went unwritten, and the invoice waited on both.

Now: overnight

The office starts the morning sending invoices instead of chasing paper.

Vetted before the call

Shippers vet a carrier before they ever call, and Ironlake’s site is built to pass that check. Each part of the page has one job for the carrier.

The top bar says what it hauls

Truckload, dedicated, expedited and drop trailer, with the request button in reach.

One promise above the fold

On time and on paper, with a field for the lane, the date and the equipment.

Services in the shipper’s words

Each one names the problem it removes instead of reciting equipment specs.

Proof from real docks

A shipping manager, a plant scheduler and an operations lead, each with a town, read like a reference check.

The vetting answers, once more

Every town served, authority and insurance on file, and the request button again.

Ironlake
  • Truckload
  • Dedicated
  • Expedited
  • Drop trailer
(708) 555-0158Request a truck

On time, on paper

Freight covered across the Midwest, tracked dock to dock, with the signed POD on your invoice the morning after delivery. Ask for a truck and get an answer while you are still at your desk.

Lane, date, equipmentRequest a truck

Two minutes to request, or call (708) 555-0158

Ironlake Cartage, the illustration on its home page
6:04 am, Request received

What we haul

  • Regional truckloadFull loads across the Midwest, tracked from dock to dock
  • Dedicated lanesYour freight, same trucks, same drivers, every week
  • ExpeditedHot loads covered the same day
  • Drop trailer and cross-dockTrailers staged at your dock so your shifts never wait on a driver
  • The confirmation beat me back from the coffee maker
    Yvonne C., shipping manager, Elk Grove
  • Invoice the morning after, signed POD attached. AP has nothing to question
    Darnell W., plant scheduler, Joliet
  • My customer had the signed receipt before lunch
    Rosa M., operations lead, Melrose Park

Regional truckload and dedicated lanes across the Midwest

Request a truck

Serving Elk Grove Village, Bedford Park, Bolingbrook, Joliet, Romeoville, Melrose Park, Aurora and West Chicago

Authority and insurance on fileMidwest lanesDock-to-dock trackingironlakecartage.com

The page wins the load. The software behind it keeps the paperwork moving with the truck.

What moves with the truck

It reads load requests and matches each POD to its delivery, and the dispatcher still decides which truck takes the load.

A load request, read before the office opens

A repeat shipper asks for a truck from Ironlake’s site before anyone is in. Ironlake turns the request into a load card and already knows the lane and the shipper’s terms.

Nobody had to phone the shipper with questions.

Ironlake6:04 am

Load request

From the website

Dry van Thursday, Elk Grove to Indianapolis.

22 pallets, 34,000 lbs, dock to dock.

Same as two weeks ago.

IronlakeInbox6:04 am

The load card

Load request

Lane
Elk Grove to Indianapolis
Equipment
Dry van, Thursday
Shipper
Repeat, terms on file
Lane history
Run 11 times
  1. Sent to the boardTo find a truck for Thursday

The empty backhaul raises its hand

Ironlake checks the load against every truck’s plans for Thursday. Truck 14 is already coming home empty on that lane, so it is proposed for the dispatcher to approve.

Miles that would have run empty now pay.

Ironlake6:05 am

Elk Grove to Indy, Thursday

Truck 14 proposed

Dry van, 34,000 lbs

  1. Truck 8Committed to a Rockford routeCommitted
  2. Truck 14Coming home empty on that lane ThursdayFits
  3. Truck 21Short on driving hours for the return

The clock nobody has to remember

The truck’s location stamps it in and out of the receiver’s dock. When the two free hours run out, Ironlake starts the detention record with the times and the driver’s dock photos.

Nobody in the cab or the office had to write down a time.

IronlakeDock clock1:10 pm

Load 8841, two hours of free time

  1. 1:52 pmUnloading, 42 minutes in
  2. 2:48 pmFree time nearly used
  3. 3:10 pmFree time overDetention clock started, with in and out times, location and dock photos

Detention billed, proof attached

Photographed at the dock, filed before the truck leaves

The driver photographs the signed POD and taps send. Ironlake matches each photo to its load, checks the count and the signature, and sends anything odd to a person.

Nobody in the office sorts a photo by hand.

Ironlake3:22 pm

Driver uploads, Thursday

  1. POD, load 8841, signed, 22 of 22Load 8841
  2. Dock photos, load 8841Load 8841
  3. POD, load 8836, signed cleanLoad 8836
  4. POD, load 8829, 19 of 20, shortage notedTo a person

Three filed, one flaggedThe shortage waits for a look

The invoice packs its own envelope

Overnight, every delivered load gets its packet of rate confirmation, POD and detention proof. Anything with a problem waits with the reason attached.

Every invoice carries its own proof.

Ironlake7:00 am

Overnight billing

  1. 11:40 pmDelivery record with rate con, POD and detentionReady
  2. 11:41 pmLoad 8836In the factoring formatReady
  3. 11:41 pmLoad 8829Shortage, held with the reasonHeld
  4. 11:42 pmChase listNothing overdueClear

Two invoices ready to sendOne held, for a person to check

Freight moves your way

A person reads every request and replies within one business day.

Start a project
A stock clerk scanning a shelf label with a handheld scanner, a tablet in his other hand

The build follows it, lane by lane.

Next build: Prairie Lantern Alliance⁠All 19 demos