Descartes MacroPoint Reviews & Product Details

I like the timesheet feature, and the ability to get location pings every 15 minutes as the truck moves from point to point. The messaging feature is nice as well, but i have never had any success in getting replies back. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The fact that it tends to cut in and out semi-frequently is mildly frustrating, and the fact that it doesnt always work properly despite being set up correctly with location settings and everything turned on. it is very frustrating for both the dispatcher and the driver to have to constantly uninstall and re-install it to get it to kick on, or to even track as it is supposed to even when the location is on ALWAYS. I am not sure what the difference in tracking abilities between this one and Trucker Tools, but the latter seems to be much more user-friendly and consistent. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One of the best features of MacroPoint is how easy they make it to track integrated carriers. If somebody is connected to use through ELD, that provides a fast and efficient way to track their loads. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sometimes there is a delay in which you need to wait for the truck to ping against an unknown variable. Occasionally, you will need to wait longer than the allotted start time for tracking to begin. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like most about Descartes MacroPoint is that we have access to track trucks that are not intracompany vehicles.

In the past our sales department, customers, and others have only been able to attain this information via phone call, text, or email - which then the accurate arrivals, departures, etc can get lost in the mix. But with this software, we can now see accurate pinged locations on the vehicles so our operation can run at maximum efficiency.

I use this program every single time we have a shipment going out.

Also the User Interface is tremendously easy to navigate and use. It only took me a few minutes of playing around in it to be able to figure out all the functions that we have available.

The implementation and integration process was quick, and easy.

For a smaller company such as ours, it only took a week or two to get completely set up.

Customer support has been fantastic since we started the process. They clearly communicate who will be running each step of the process, as well as checking back up to make sure everything is running as it should. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Pretty much the only thing I don't like about MacroPoint is that for each specific load you have to enter all of the information over again. I wish there was a feature that would save all the old locations to be selected for use again to make the entry process faster, but that is a small price to pay for what it accomplishes on the back-end. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like a lot the constant status and real time tracking for every shipment it makes the tracking work a lot much easier and it is helpful to also provide constant updates to stakeholders and with an efficient customer support quicker to help resolve any issue, also the learning curve is very quick as this tool is very intuitive and this makes MacroPoint an everyday tool. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I think that it would be awesome if there where more videos or sessions from Descartes to know if there are any updates coming or planned. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As a 3rd party logistics company that specializes in moving High Value Machines and expedited shipments, MacroPoint allows us to track shipments faster than making phone calls to dispatchers or drivers and continually "bugging" them. It allows my team to focus on other things and increases productivity. We use this system daily. We also just recently integrated with 3PL Brokerware so this has allowed us to track right from the TMS saving time as well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sometimes we do round trip shipments and we have to create double tracking out and back otherwise it will mark them in at the loading point and return simulataneouly causing extra costs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Easy to set up, simple to use, and effective tracking to provide updates for my customers on where their freight is and where it's been! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

At times we have issue with getting tracking activated, and the app has a tendency to quickly drain your device's battery if it's not plugged in. That said, the tracking is effective and most truckers don't go anywhere without a charging cable for their devices in the truck! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As a freight broker intermediating a high volume of crossborder shipments between Canada and the US, Macropoint proves extremely useful at seeing where all the trucks are currently, all in one place, without having to contact 10-20 dispatches.

With food manufacturers, it's important to schedule delivery / pick-up appointments, sometimes even the time when the driver reaches the Border matters.

For their price packages, Macropoint is a steal for any freight broker aspiring to coordinate large projects and have a high income.

Customer support is awesome, Charlie Steinhoff made a presentation from scratch just so that I could present the program to my colleagues.

Indispensable tool for a crossborder freight broker in 2025. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Maybe the fact that it doesn't show live location but offers a ping every 15 minutes, but that isn't that much of an issue anyways. It would be cool if there were more tools to customize maps for load statistics personal + company wide. ( show your potential customers all the deliveries you had in a 100 mile radius to their warehouse in the last month ) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Auto-marking loads as picked up saves our team lots of time. Tracking adds lots of value to our customers and the MacroPoint for Truckers app makes download simple for drivers. Anytime we've needed support, the Descartes MacroPoint team has been responsive, clear, professional, and willing to look into issue and offer unique solutions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are only I believe 8 or 10 slots for photos. This is not nearly enough for vehicles. If a driver is carrying a load of nine vehicles, we would expect a minimum of 3-5 photos of each vehicle at both pick-up and delivery. MacroPoint simply does not accomodate for this. This also confuses our drivers, often leading them to take way fewer photos than is necessary which creates issues.

Another issue with MacroPoint is the lack of flexibility for repeated lanes. If the same driver is located at a pick-up OR delivery location that is repeated among their loads, MacroPoint automatically marks the driver arrived for all loads. This is a huge problem for lots of our customers who have many vehicles to and from the same locations, so this is something that takes away from our MacroPoint experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Most of my thoughts will be in direct reference to the "Control Tower View". On the account I run, time is everything, and when I know down the minute where a truck driver is located, how long he's been in the current location, their miles from the destination and whether they are on time or behind, I feel completely prepared to handle any situation that arises. I can answer any question my department might be tasked with. I can look at traffic patterns in various locations to get an idea of what the challenges on the road may be. The order numbers we use are exact to each shipment and make finding them easy and quick with the use of web browser finding tool, "CTRL-F". Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is a designated search bar in the Control Tower View but for some reason when I input my company's order number (ex. 1243015) which is visible on the list (ex. CFML.1243015.2274398) that order is not highlighted or desinagted in any way. I have to use the web browsers finding function instead to locate the order I need to view. It's not a major problem but if the search bar is there it may as well be useful.

I know that a lot of this is due to driver indifference but I wish there were a more direct way to get a driver's location instead of the driver being required to update whenever they feel like it. This might be a privacy issue but if they're supplying their number than it should be automatic.

Whether it be a flaw in the system or driver error, every so often the tracking will bug out and a driver that has just left the pick up warehouse will suddenly show up as delivered even though there was no possible way of that happening so quickly. Not sure what's going on there. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I can monitor every stop the driver makes while transporting my freight and respond quickly to potential risks, such as staying in the same location for too long or losing tracking entirely. It's an incredibly useful tool that keeps everything under control and ensures smooth operations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

One drawback of Descartes MacroPoint is that the information updates aren't always consistent, and the app sometimes doesn't refresh in real-time. A useful improvement would be adding a "location request" button, allowing the driver to send their exact location at that moment, eliminating the need for manual calls. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.