Jump to: What is a Toll Management System | How do Toll Management Systems Work? | Benefits of Outsourced Toll Management | Industries Best Suited for Toll Management | How Bestpass Can Help

Trucking fleets are the lifeblood of the country, transporting goods that keep the economy running. But fleets are expensive to operate and require logistical planning to ensure goods end up at their destination as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.

To help make trucking and fleet management easier, toll management solutions provide managers with a way to consolidate toll payments, violations, citations, and fleet tracking under one platform. By partnering with tolling agencies around the country, toll management providers can cover the cost of tolls at maximum discounts, bringing down operating costs for fleets and owner-operators. 

Our guide to toll management solutions describes what toll management is, how it can help businesses and the types of fleets that should take advantage of solutions for toll management.

What Is a Toll Management System?  

Toll management solutions are third-party payment platforms that help fleet managers easily plan and pay for toll fees. Throughout the country, local governments install toll plazas to charge highway users for the cost of maintenance, repairs, new construction and other related expenses of managing roadways. Businesses that rely on frequent road travel typically rack up significant toll fees annually, but toll management helps them pay those costs and keep them down. 

How Do Toll Management Systems Work? 

Managing toll fees and ongoing payments to tolling authorities can be time-consuming and require high attention to detail. To make toll management more convenient, efficient and cost-effective, toll management solutions consolidate all their customers’ toll fees under one account, which belongs to the solution provider. Customers only need to pay a single, ongoing service fee to the toll management solution provider rather than multiple different fees to the tolling authorities. This solution also helps fleets avoid racking up costly toll violations for unpaid or forgotten tolls.

Toll management solutions can offer this service because of their strategic partnerships with the tolling authorities. By working with the tolling agencies, toll management software providers can remain up to date with current toll fees, routes and changes to tolling across the country. With higher purchasing power, toll management solutions can pass discounted toll rates onto their customers, bringing down the cost of fleet management. 

Along with reducing and organizing the toll transactions, toll management solutions providers also include a user-friendly online portal that fleet managers or owner-operators can use to better manage their fleet routes. The provider collects ongoing data that managers and owners can interpret, giving them visibility into their operations. Using this data, fleet managers can make informed adjustments to their routes, further saving them time and money.

Benefits of Outsourced Toll Management 

From maintenance and repair expenses to unpredictable fuel costs to vehicle depreciation, the total cost of vehicle ownership can be staggeringly high. Having ways to save money and make operations more efficient can drastically free up time and keep long-term costs low. Toll management platforms provide these cost-savings and time-efficiency benefits, along with many other advantages.

Below are the top benefits that toll management solutions provide to fleet managers and owner-operators.

1. Decreases the Cost of Tolls

The biggest benefit of a toll management solution is that it brings down the overall cost of toll fees for businesses. By consolidating toll information for their whole fleet, fleet managers can easily use their data to ensure fleet compliance with cost-effective routes and effectively cut direct monthly toll expenses. A toll management solution can also dramatically reduce payment errors, so you’ll only ever pay what’s required — nothing more.

Streamlining tolls under one payment platform can also cut administrative costs. For example, juggling fewer individual payments means fleet managers can significantly reduce the amount of paperwork they need to file — and the amount of time and money they spend printing that paperwork.

2. Reduces Costly Violations

Fleet managers and owner-operators can pay significant penalties for toll violations. Unpaid tolls lead to fees and interest, as well as penalties. Poorly managing fleet routes and logistics can lead to missing toll fees or overpaying violations from misreads. Even for the most organized fleet manager, it’s possible to miss the occasional toll violation, especially when managing dozens or more different vehicles and trucking routes.

By using a toll management solution, companies get the peace of mind of knowing that their toll fees are taken care of. Toll management solutions allow companies to mostly avoid incurring costly violations.

3. Improves Traffic Flow

Toll management solutions provide more than direct financial benefits. They also offer secondary benefits for traffic flow and reducing congestion. With toll management solutions, fleets can streamline their processing through toll booths, meaning less congestion at tolls. By installing a transponder and using a toll management solution, you can move faster through toll facilities and avoid being delayed due to congestion.

4. Facilitates Inter-Regional Trade

Many fleet-based businesses have been limited in the regions they could profitably serve, restricting themselves to smaller areas throughout the country. Or, businesses have had to strategically position their fleet deployment centers to account for regional toll systems, causing increased operational friction. 

Consolidating toll payments under one system allows for inter-regional trade by making it more cost-effective and less time-consuming to pass through multiple different tolls. While previously, a business would have needed multiple different regional deployments between the Northeast and Florida, toll management solutions now allow businesses to consolidate an entire fleet route from the middle of the country to Florida. As cross-country and even international trade become easier, companies grow their profits and expand their market share.

5. Saves Fleet Managers and Drivers Time

Fleet managers and owner-operators manage endless paperwork, invoices and schedules. They must keep their assets insured, maintained, fueled and operated productively and safely. On top of the various accounts they keep track of, managers also need to account for potentially dozens of different accounts with various toll authorities.

Toll management solutions consolidate separate toll accounts under one account, making it faster to pay one provider rather than multiple separate ones. With toll management solutions, managers can free up precious time to focus on critical aspects of business that help improve profitability. Drivers also save time by not having to keep track of tolls themselves and instead leave it to the toll fleet manager to handle the tolls through the management solution.

6. Increases Visibility in Toll Activity 

A toll management solution is convenient, and it can also act as a business ally, providing insight into driving patterns and routes that can further help businesses save time and money. 

Toll management systems collect ongoing data regarding the toll usage of the entire fleet, providing information that can help managers adjust their routes to avoid or minimize toll interactions. Because it tracks toll activity by vehicle, toll management solutions allow managers to make adjustments based on certain vehicle behavior. Managers can also avoid the risk of over-reimbursing drivers who misreport the amount and number of tolls they’ve paid.

7. Simplifies Financial Management

Tolling management solutions help fleet managers understand their exact monthly toll spend by providing regular reports and improving fleet visibility. While the total cost of ownership (TCO) is typically difficult to calculate, having this precise number makes a true TCO more attainable.

With more accurate information, fleet managers can make more informed purchasing decisions and may even find new opportunities to save.

What Industries Are Best Suited for Toll Management Solutions?

Toll management solutions provide benefits for numerous types of businesses across a variety of industries. Courier and delivery businesses, transport providers, freight companies and service fleets all benefit from using toll management solutions to help them streamline operations. 

In addition to the various industries that toll management supports, there is also a wide range of business sizes this service can accommodate. From international trucking companies with dozens of assets to owner-operators expanding their businesses, toll management solutions are flexible and scalable to grow with you.

Below are the top industries best suited for toll management solutions.

Trucking Fleets

Whether you’re managing five trucks or 500 — or even more — trucking fleet operations rely on toll management systems to save them time and money, ensure compliance and improve operations. Some of the top types of trucking businesses that can benefit from toll management solutions include:

• Food and cold storage transport
• Logging, lumber and building supply trucking
• Auto transport fleets
• Fuel, gas and oil tanker trucking

Toll management solutions often provide extensive toll coverage across the country, making it the ideal solution for inter-regional and cross-country trucking fleets. Often providing multiple plans to choose from, toll management systems offer fleet managers tailored solutions and a variety of features to meet their fleet needs.

Service Fleets

Service fleets that operate inter-regionally and manage multiple vehicles on an ongoing basis rely on toll management solutions to help reduce costs. Some of the service fleets that benefit from toll management solutions include:

• Courier and delivery fleets
• Plumbing and HVAC servicing and repair fleets
• Emergency response fleets
• Waste and recycling hauling
• Moving and relocation trucking

Toll management solutions also save service fleets time so they can make appointments and destination deadlines on time, allowing them to continue providing excellent customer service. For first responder fleets, toll management mitigates toll violations and speeds up logistics when lives are on the line.

Owner-Operators

For owner-operators with only a few trucks to manage, toll management solutions can provide valuable assistance to small businesses that have too much on their plate. 

Below are some of the top types of owner-operator businesses that should consider switching to a toll management solution:

• Heavy equipment rental providers
• Truck owner
• Gravel trucking and material hauling trucks
 

Toll management solutions provide the customer service and support that owner-operators need and the peace of mind that their tolls will be organized. 

How Can Bestpass Help?

Bestpass is an industry-leading toll management solutions provider that is rethinking the way toll management is done. We offer extensive national and regional coverage, a robust backend office with data analytics capabilities and first-rate customer service. Bestpass helps fleets save money, avoid violations and citations, and improve operational efficiencies. With service plans ranging from a single truck to a vast fleet, Bestpass offers customizable solutions for all types and sizes of trucking and fleet businesses and industries. 

How does our toll management software work? Below is a look at the ways Bestpass can help your trucking business. 

Calculate and Earn ROI

Bestpass is dedicated to making toll management profitable for fleets. We work hard to secure and maintain strategic partnerships with tolling authorities, ensuring we get the best rates on toll fees and avoid costly violations for our customers. 

One of the ways we help ensure our customers turn a profit with our services is by offering an ROI calculator to help customers find the ideal plan for them. Simply input your fleet information and let the calculator generate the numbers for you. The calculator provides you with an overview of your return timeline, including how much return you’ll earn through both streamlined operations and reduced toll costs. By requesting a custom ROI report, you’ll rest assured that your investment in Bestpass makes financial sense.

Customize Toll Management Needs

Bestpass offers numerous plan options depending on fleet type and size. For owner-operators, register up to five trucks with your Bestpass account and choose the plan with the best coverage for your operation. For fleets, a minimum of six trucks can get you started with our service fleet or trucking fleet plans.

Trucking fleets can choose from an Essentials, Plus or Enterprise plan, giving you more control over your costs and coverage. Choose from different coverage levels on violation misreads and select which level of analytics reporting you need for your business.

Gain Total Major Toll Coverage

Bestpass is proud to have achieved 100% major toll coverage across America, meaning our platform covers all major toll roads. From coast-to-coast, your business can rest assured while traveling through tolls in the U.S. 

Our multiple plan offerings allow you to choose the coverage that suits your business needs. Whether you need coverage for the Atlantic coast, California or coast-to-coast, Bestpass can provide you with the solution that allows you to reach the full scope of your fleet destinations.

Choose Bestpass for Toll Management Solutions

At Bestpass, we strive to make managing your fleet operations easier and more cost-effective with toll management solutions. Founded by truckers, for truckers, we aim to bridge the gap between fleet managers and tolling agencies to save all parties valuable time and money. Find the right customizable solution for your toll management needs by partnering with Bestpass.

Browse our solutions to discover the right service plan for you. Check out our product overviews for more information on coverage area plans, including the Complete Pass Scout, which offers nationwide toll coverage.