Just last Tuesday I was stuck arguing with my usual freight carrier again – delivery late by two days, boxes damaged, and the guy on the phone basically shrugged. Felt like banging my head against a wall. Figured it was time to actually try this IFS Trucking thing everyone’s been buzzing about, just to see if it lived up to the hype. Here’s exactly what went down.
First step? Signed up online. Took maybe ten minutes – filled in my basic info, company details, the usual stuff about what kinda stuff I ship (mostly packaged snacks for my little online store). No fancy forms or complicated jargon, which was a nice change. Got an email saying my account was active pretty much right away.
Giving it a Real Test Drive
My next shipment was going cross-country – about 15 pallets of granola bars heading to California. Instead of calling my old guys, I hopped onto the IFS Trucking online portal. Typed in the pickup address from my warehouse, the delivery address in LA, the pallet count, and weight. Hit ‘search rates’. Boom. Saw three options pop up almost instantly – different carriers, different prices, different estimated times.
- Reason 1 hit me: Seeing rates fast. No waiting hours for a quote or playing phone tag. Just clear options right there.
- Reason 2 popped up: Choice, actual choice! Picked the middle option – decent price, promised delivery in 4 days, and the carrier had good user ratings on their platform.
Booked it right then. The portal spat out the shipping docs and labels. Printed ’em, stuck ’em on the pallets. Done.
The Waiting (and Watching) Game
Usually, once stuff leaves the dock, it feels like it vanishes into a black hole. Not this time. Logged back into the portal later that afternoon. Saw the status had updated: ‘Picked Up’. Felt kinda cool, honestly. Next day? Checked again. ‘In Transit – Kansas’.
- Reason 3 became obvious: I could actually see where my stuff was! Like tracking a pizza delivery, but for a whole truckload. Took a load of worry off my mind knowing it wasn’t lost somewhere between here and nowhere.
The pallets landed in LA in exactly 4 days, like the quote said. Driver called the receiver before arriving, gave a heads-up. Minor plus.
No Drama, But Then… The Bill
Got a notification the shipment was delivered. Receiver confirmed everything looked good, no damage. Relief! A week later, the invoice landed in my email inbox from IFS Trucking.
- Reason 4: One single invoice. Didn’t have to chase down the carrier or piece together charges. Just one clear bill covering the whole move. Simple.
Then came reason 5. Looked over the charges. Was pretty straightforward: the line haul cost, fuel surcharge (ugh, but expected), and a small platform fee. Nothing crazy hidden, no surprise ‘accessorial’ fees popping out of the woodwork this time.
But hey, it ain’t all roses. Had a question about the fuel charge calculation. Tried calling the carrier directly? Couldn’t get through easily. Had to log a ticket through the IFS Trucking portal instead. Took about a day to get a basic explanation. So yeah, dealing through a middleman can sometimes slow things down if you need specifics direct from the horse’s mouth.
So, bottom line? Tried it myself. Got rates quick, had choices, saw where my stuff was real-time, got one simple bill, and prices were upfront. Saved me a headache versus my old way. Dealing with questions can be clunky though. Worth it for the transparency? For me, right now? Hell yes. Might not ditch the old guys completely yet, but IFS Trucking is definitely getting my next shipment. Bite me, unreliable carriers.
