Good Advice Selecting Tires

Money Saving Tip: While steer tires cost less than drive tires, they're actually prone to more wear and tear, making them the "most expensive tires to run on a cost-per-mile basis". Check out the article in trucknews.com that explains why, and gives advice on how to get the best performance out of steer tires.

Get Alerts Regarding Stolen Trailers

The Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association has unveiled a new site that provides truckers with up to the minute alerts regarding stolen tractors, trailers, and cargo, changes to the national threat level advisory, and AMBER alerts. Now that is cool. Check it out!

Put Cash Back In Your Pocket - Take Charge of Your Accounts Receivable

“Our company was struggling. Although we had plenty of customers, our accrual based accounting system showed revenues were strong and we were making a profit, we were still struggling to pay our bills. We were burning out worrying how we were going to pay our vendors.” writes Rosanne Wiesen, a Tailwind client.

In a tough economy you can’t afford to be your customers’ bank. We want to share practical, proven ways of putting cash in your pocket where it belongs, so we've written a White Paper on how to take charge of your accounts receivable.

Wiesen manages a trucking company, NW Shippers, Inc., in Washington State and has first hand experience with how managing A/R can make a huge difference to cash flow and the bottom line.

Read the White Paper free of charge on our website to see step by step how NW Shippers became more profitable.

Roadcheck 2009

Please be aware that the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance will be having their annual 72 hour inspection blitz from June 2nd to 4th in Canada and the U.S. Make sure that your drivers are keeping their logs and mechanical inspections up to date.

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2009/Feb09/020209/020509-07.htm

What's New in CMS 5.4

It's been almost a year since 5.3 was released, and we think you'll be excited about what we've got in store with 5.4.

As always, the complete change log is available in the Tailwind Wiki, but here's a summary of the most significant improvements:

• Added integration with Crimson Logic, providing numerous new enhancements to our ACE offering including:

• Ability to view status of ACE manifest from within CMS
• Ability to request sec 321
• Ability to clear using an IIT bond #
• Ability to request FDA inspection
• Ability to submit a brass line release

• Added integration with Internet Truckstop (Load Posting)

• Added ability to specify multiple receivable charges on a quote

• Free-form dimension fields have been replaced with cubic dimensions (length, width, and height)

• New, more flexible EDI configuration system that allows Tailwind Staff to create custom mappings for clients who exchange EDI messages with customers or vendors

• Most comprehensive testing of any CMS release. We have a dedicated testing staff who have checked these improvements and new features thoroughly, ensuring that 5.4 is the most stable version of CMS ever.

For further details or assistance with getting 5.4 into your hands, shoot us an email or give us a ring today!

Tickets, Please?

The fact that many of you know our entire support department by name is a good thing in my books. It seems rather rare in this day and age to immediately recognize the voice on the other end of the support line, much less recognize it as something other than the computerized voice of an automated switchboard.

For me, the human touch is imperative, and to that end we make great effort to ensure all of our calls are answered by a live person.

All that being said, there are times I call support and I know what my issue is, or have already reported it and am simply looking for a quick status update. In cases such as these, having to listen to Liam chat enthusiastically about his weekend while he searches for my ticket might not be what I want to hear at 6.30am on a Monday morning.

(No offense, Liam!)

So, there has to be balance - and in the same way that I value the ability to speak to the friendly teller, I place equal value on the ability to complete my banking online.

To that end, we have begun thinking about ways in which we can enable and empower you - the loyal customer, and make your interactions with us as pleasant and efficient as possible.

Some of you may have noticed in calling support or corresponding over email the use of 'ticket numbers'. These represent the unique tracking numbers assigned to the issues or features you have reported or requested. Up until now, these numbers have ever only benefited you indirectly, in that they ensured your issue was tracked through our business all the way to resolution.

Based upon customer feedback and internal suggestion, we have decided to begin sending these ticket numbers by email whenever an issue is reported, for quick reference when calling in future, or for managing the ticket online - (Did you know you can add, edit and prioritize tickets online!? I'll be writing about this topic in my next article...)

- The idea being of course being that you get served faster when calling, have better tools for managing your existing support issues, and only have to hear about Liam's weekend if you ask!

So what's the moral of the story? Well, don't be shy about demanding a little more out of our already exceptional service - especially if you know your ticket number.

Cheers