How Does a TMS Prevent Security Risks?

When you deal with financial and operational data for manufacturers, distributors, freight brokers, shippers, and trucking companies — security is a primary concern. Trucking and freight companies interested in a Transportation Management System (TMS) may have questions about security, and rightly so. Businesses may be asking — how does a TMS prevent security risks? We may be able to help answer that question at TransPlus. 

Top 8 Security Benefits of a TMS

A modern and innovative Transportation Management System acts as a central and secure command center for a freight company's sensitive operational and financial data. A TMS creates a controlled digital environment by moving away from spreadsheets, paper documents, and unsecured emails.
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Cloud-based TMS platforms provide even better security. TMS providers host their platforms in high-security data centers with advanced firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and dedicated cybersecurity teams that provide enterprise-level protection that is often more comprehensive and cost-effective than what individual trucking companies can maintain on their own.
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Here are some of the key ways a TMS can prevent security risks for your business:

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1. Encrypt Data

A secure TMS protects your information by encrypting data both when stored in the database and when being transmitted online. This process scrambles the data, making it unreadable and unusable to any unauthorized user who might intercept it, protecting everything from contracted freight rates to customer payment information.

2. Control Access to Information

A Transportation Management System allows for role-based access controls that allow system administrators to define who can view, create, edit, or delete specific information. For example — a dispatcher can access load planning and driver information — but not sensitive company financial reports, while a partner carrier can only see the loads tendered to them. This reduces the risk of accidental or malicious data exposure.

3. Updated Software

A major benefit of using a cloud-based TMS from a dedicated provider is that security patches and software updates are managed for you. A quality TMS provider regularly updates the platform to protect against the latest known vulnerabilities and threats. This helps ensure your system's firewalls and defenses are always up to date without requiring you to manage the complicated and time-consuming process of server maintenance and updates.

4. Anonymous Data for Reporting and Compliance

When creating reports for analysis or demonstrating compliance, a TMS can collect and anonymize data, or pseudonymize data. This allows you to analyze trends, like profitability or carrier performance, without exposing sensitive, specific details about individual customers or shipments in general reports.

5. Easy Data Audits

Secure TMS platforms help maintain comprehensive audit trails that log user activity and show who accessed or modified data and when the event took place. This detailed logging is crucial for security reviews, investigating potential data discrepancies or unauthorized access to data, and demonstrating compliance during an audit.

6. Data Backups and Recovery

Cloud-based TMS platforms can perform regular backups of your company data, in many cases storing them in separate locations to provide greater data security. In the event of a local disaster, hardware failure, or a cyberattack like ransomware, this ensures your operational and financial data can be quickly and reliably restored. This minimizes downtime and protects business operations.

7. Improved Compliance

A TMS helps maintain compliance with data privacy regulations by enforcing secure data handling, storage, and access protocols. By providing a central and secure data system with controlled access and audit trails, it becomes much simpler to remain compliant with industry standards and government regulations, reducing the risk of potential fines.

8. Secure Third-Party Integrations

A high-quality TMS provider manages integrations with other essential systems — like ELDs, accounting software like QuickBooks®, fuel cards, and EDI partners — through secure Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). This prevents gaps in security that can come from using multiple, disconnected systems or insecure connections, ensuring that exchanged data between platforms remains protected.

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READ MORE: How Does AI Affect the Trucking Industry? 

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In an industry that has become more and more reliant on technology — understanding how a TMS prevents security risks is vital for protecting your assets, your customers, and your reputation as a trucking company. By securing data in a central, encrypted location with controlled access, managed updates, and robust data backups, a modern TMS serves as a powerful defense against a wide range of cybersecurity threats. 

Are you ready to improve your operational security? Contact TransPlus to learn more about our secure Fleet Manager and Logistics Manager platforms!