If you rely on trucking companies to make sure shipments and other resources are transported efficiently, you may feel slightly ill at ease when a new federal regulation emerges that changes the previously accepted status quo. But business management software can be a helpful addition to your arsenal of solutions so that updates don't feel like they're pulling the rug out from under you.

According to a survey from the American Transportation Research Institute, some of the highest "concerns" among managers of trucking fleets surround the policies regarding safety and operating hours. These are issues that aren't limited to these companies, though, and could affect the movement of goods that your business depends upon.

One of the other concerns mentioned, for example, is manpower, which could send ripples all along the line of even the simplest supply chain. With the use of resource management and planning tools, your company might be able to see how vulnerable your production might be to a problem in this area.

Changes to the "hours of service" rules that happened earlier this year most likely have industry players concerned due to the resulting lower numbers witnessed in terms of travel efficiency, as Fleet Owner reported earlier this month.

Trucking may not be in the busy manager's immediate wheelhouse, but anything that has an affect on sales ultimately is of interest and should be mitigated properly. While there may be little that you can do in the face of federal regulations, by responding to the changes that are happening within contingent sectors, businesses that trade in any industry can see the potential for better results.