McLeod Software: The Software Behind 1,200 Trucking Companies | Tom McLeod on Behind The Wheelhouse

About this episode

Tom McLeod discusses the evolution of McLeod Software and its impact on the trucking industry over 40 years.

In this episode of Behind the Wheelhouse on Trucker Talk Radio, Tom McLeod, founder, president, and CEO of McLeod Software, joins Jon and Justin for a wide-ranging conversation about 40 years of building the technology infrastructure that powers over 1,200 trucking and freight brokerage companies across North America. Tom traces the company's origins back to 1985, when deregulation opened the floodgates for new carriers and almost nobody was building software to help them run. With a background in classical piano and sales, he made a calculated bet on an industry big enough to sustain a growing company but niche enough to stay off the radar of IBM and Microsoft. Tom walks through how the industry has evolved from 80-megabyte hard drives and isolated green-screen terminals to fully integrated TMS platforms with 150 integration partners handling everything from order entry and freight billing to driver payroll, fuel tax, and real-time GPS visibility. He explains why integration is not optional anymore, why technology for technology's sake often creates more manual work than it eliminates, and why the companies that invest in the right tools tend to be better-managed companies…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jon Vogt, Justin

Guest: Tom McLeod

Topics covered

• trucking industry
• software technology
• business evolution
• freight brokerage
• integration in logistics
• regulatory changes

Keywords

• trucking software
• technology integration
• freight management
• business growth
• logistics solutions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McLeod Software, IBM, Microsoft

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