Instead of Excel
Haulage records in Excel: when it is time to move on
Excel is a good start: free, familiar and flexible. But as trucks, drivers and clients grow in number, the spreadsheet starts costing more time than it saves. 4Cargo keeps what is handy about a table and removes its weak spots.
Where Excel starts getting in the way
None of this is Excel's fault - it simply was not built as an app for several people working together.
- One stray click deletes or shifts a formula, and the totals are wrong
- Copies of the file in e-mails and on computers - nobody knows which is latest
- Either everyone sees everything, pay included, or nobody can have the file
- Nothing reminds you about insurance, roadworthiness tests or licence expiry
- Invoices are typed separately and invoice numbers get mixed up
- CMR scans live somewhere other than the trips
- A spreadsheet is awkward on a phone
What stays familiar
The 4Cargo trip list looks familiar: one row per trip, totals at the bottom, search, sorting and date filters, and columns you can drag around. Dispatchers do not have to relearn everything.
What changes
You get what a spreadsheet cannot give.
- One set of data for everyone - no file copies
- Each user's own rights in each section
- Alerts on vehicle and driver document deadlines
- Invoices built from trips with an automatic number, sent together with the CMRs
- Driver pay from finished trips
- A deleted record is not gone: it can be restored
- Works in the browser and on a phone
How to move off Excel
By arrangement we move your trips, vehicles, staff and clients over from Excel ourselves. There is no import button in the app - that is our job.
The first 30 days are free and contract-free, so you can make sure the app fits before you give up the spreadsheet.
Screenshots show demo data; the interface is in Latvian.
Questions and answers
Can we keep Excel running alongside?
Yes, many do during the switch. The real gain comes when everyone works in one place: totals, invoices and pay match without cross-checking.
What does moving off Excel cost?
The base plan is €35 a month excl. VAT per company, up to 5 trucks. We quote for the data move once we have seen your spreadsheets.
What if I want to leave later?
You can cancel at any time - we hand your data back as an export file.
Try 4Cargo free for 30 days
€35 a month excl. VAT per company. No card and no contract - leave a request, and we will give you access and walk you through the app.