)
Frédéric La Rocca is the owner of S.T.A.R., which has been providing airport trucking since 1979. He explains how his company grew from €1 million to €3.6 million in revenue with the same administrative headcount thanks to Dashdoc TMS. See how going digital and automating key processes transformed his business and delighted his customers.
S.T.A.R. has been a pioneer of trucking at Marseille Provence Airport since 1979. It was the first trucking company based at the airport to serve freight forwarders, and it specializes in air freight consolidation across southeastern France, from Monaco to Béziers. Frédéric La Rocca, a former passenger airline executive, bought the company in 2010. Today, this family-owned business has 38 employees and continues to grow in a sector with very specific requirements: aviation.
Before Dashdoc: Manual Processes in a Highly Demanding Industry
When Frédéric took over the company, every process was still manual.
We didn’t have a TMS before Dashdoc. It was all Excel spreadsheets and a lot of paper. Everything was still done by hand.
This had a direct impact on daily operations:
Heavy, time-consuming billing: one or two people manually entered every completed load before creating the invoices and mailing them out.
Difficult communication: information didn’t flow easily between drivers and dispatch, and there was no real-time communication.
No visibility for customers: they couldn’t track activity or get their documents quickly.
Yet S.T.A.R. operates in an environment where responsiveness and security are critical.
We’re in a unique corner of the trucking business. Aviation has a lot of specific requirements, especially around security, and we have to meet some very particular standards.
Going Digital to Modernize, Without Starting from Scratch
Frédéric compared several TMS platforms, and Dashdoc is the one that won him over:
What convinced me was how it combined accounting and billing, which meant a big gain in productivity and a lot of time saved. And the TMS covered 90 to 95% of our needs.
The rollout included training, especially for drivers who weren’t used to digital tools. A few weeks later, everything was up and running.
With Dashdoc, S.T.A.R. took its first step toward going digital:
Instant communication between drivers and dispatch
Real-time document sharing
Customer access through a dedicated portal
Giving customers access to the TMS, with a real-time view of all our activity, is pretty amazing. It saves us a lot of back-and-forth with customers, and they get their PODs in real time.
Tripling Revenue with the Same Admin Team
Two years after adopting Dashdoc, the results speak for themselves.
Growth without added overhead
We went from €1 million in revenue to €3.6 million, and we kept the same number of people on the admin side.
Faster operational response
The real-time view of the schedule is a game-changer. We can react right away, adjust routes, and change assignments. That’s something we really like.
Happier customers
We get very positive feedback from our customers. They love being able to see our activity in real time without having to call us, and they can confirm tracking information to their own customers. For them, it’s a huge added value.
Faster billing
Dashdoc TMS integrates with our accounting software. The two systems talk to each other, and our processes are automated and digital. It cuts out a lot of data entry and speeds up billing.
“Dashdoc is a real gem!” Frédéric concludes.
Want to modernize your transportation management without adding to your team’s workload? See how Dashdoc supports demanding carriers, even in the most specialized industries.
)
)
)
)
)