Start a move from spreadsheets to a TMS with a defined part of your current work, such as orders for one customer. Prepare the records those jobs need, agree where the team will keep current information and test the full job through to its delivery paperwork. Expand once you have checked the results with the people doing the work.
Recognise where the spreadsheet is becoming difficult
A spreadsheet is easy to adapt. You can add a column, change labels and arrange orders to suit your team. If the information stays current and everyone can find it, fleet size alone is not a reason to replace it.
Look at how much work happens outside the file. A dispatcher may need to call for a delivery update while documents arrive in several different places. Someone covering a colleague's shift may struggle to finish a job without asking about earlier arrangements.
Write down a few situations from your own operation. These become specific things to check during a TMS trial. One useful goal might be that the next dispatcher can find an order's status and paperwork without calling the person who handled it earlier.
Prepare what the first jobs need
Choose a familiar customer or lane. Prepare the contractor, vehicle and employee records needed for those jobs. Check duplicate entries, vehicle registrations and contact details before bringing them into the new system.
You do not have to move the company's entire history at once. Identify older records that you still need for outstanding invoices, open issues or reporting, and include those in the migration plan.
Other files can remain in an organised archive. Make a backup before changing them and check that you can retrieve a selected order and its attachments. Keeping the spreadsheet alone is not enough if the supporting documents will become inaccessible to the team.
Agree where the current version of an order lives
During the trial, the rest of the company can continue with its existing tools. For the selected jobs, agree on one place to record the current status and changes to instructions. Otherwise, the spreadsheet and TMS can end up showing different information.
If you keep duplicate records for a while, assign someone to reconcile them and set an endpoint for double entry. Check that drivers and customers will not receive conflicting messages from the two tools.
Test a complete job with the office and driver
Use a job that includes the steps your team carries out regularly. Check driver assignment, sending route details and updating the order status. After delivery, find the paperwork and confirm that the person handling invoicing has the information they need.
Ask the driver to carry out their part on the phone they actually use. Watch the sign-in process, how easily they can read the job details and how they attach photos. With a weak connection, check which information remains available, which updates wait to be sent and how the office knows an update has arrived.
Record where someone needed help or made a mistake. Some problems will need a setting changed; others may call for a short instruction or a different working practice. Have the people who encountered the problem check the fix.
Check costs and data access before committing
Trial costs depend on the provider's terms. Check the duration, allowances and what happens when the trial ends. Use your expected user and vehicle counts, along with the functions you need, to assess the price.
Ask about data exports and access to documents after cancellation. Where possible, run a sample export and inspect its contents. Your team should know how to retrieve the information needed to continue working.
Expand after reviewing the results
Return to the problems you recorded before the trial. Is a shift handover easier? Can someone find the document against its order? What still requires manual copying?
If the trial works well, choose the next part of the operation to move. Set a date from which that work is updated only in the TMS, with the old files kept for reference. The timetable depends on data quality, the scope of the change and your team's availability. There is no single number of days that fits every company.
Using LiteTMS for this kind of trial
LiteTMS lets you add unlimited orders and contractors without a charge for each record. LiteTMS Mobile handles assigned orders, status updates and documents. It needs an internet connection to fetch current information and send changes to the office.
You can create custom forms and registers with AI Builder. Check whether they can capture the details you currently keep in extra spreadsheet columns.
LiteTMS has no setup fee or minimum term. A trial can still involve billable resources, services or modules, so review the terms in the panel before activating them. Our pricing article explains the different parts of the bill.
Questions people ask
- When should a small carrier move from spreadsheets to a TMS?
- Consider a trial when keeping information current or handing work to another person becomes difficult. Choose specific problems, such as finding documents, and test whether the TMS helps your team resolve them.
- Do I need to move every historical order?
- That depends on which records you still need for current work and reconciliation. You can start with current orders and keep an organised archive, while including older jobs that still have outstanding issues.
- How long does a move to a TMS take?
- The timing depends on data preparation, the people involved and the scope of the change. Decide when to expand after the office and drivers have tested the full handling of selected jobs.
- Can I test a TMS alongside a spreadsheet?
- Yes. Define the trial's scope and agree where the current information for those jobs will be recorded. If you keep both sets of records, assign someone to reconcile them and set a date to end double entry.
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