Due to the capacity crunch, shipping rates are headed up with no signs of stopping. We’ve covered a few ideas for keeping costs down, including leveraging technology.
Looking to survive the constrained climate, the adoption or optimization of logistics technology is on the minds of many shippers these days. Let’s break down some of the best new technologies available to you so you can stay competitive. Know that you can access these tools directly OR through your 3PL partner, if they offer them.
TMS solutions are everywhere these days. And for good reason — shippers must digitize their supply chain logistics to remain competitive in today’s ultra-saturated, increasingly complex climate.
According to a recent ARC Advisory report,
TMS offer a host of valuable new options for streamlining your shipping strategy. And without a TMS, you’re at risk of missed opportunities, human error, and slower response times.
So how does a TMS work? It collects all transportation data to apply to future decisions, automatically or through manually requested outputs.
The benefits of leveraging end-to-end data are significant. You can prioritize carriers that demonstrate the best on-time performance. You can use historic transit times to estimate the arrival of goods. You can compare modes and routes to select the most efficient combination for your needs. You can avoid costly fees. And you can provide more holistic, accurate, and proactive information to those who need it. Overall, a TMS takes the guesswork out of your transportation logistics so you can operate more efficiently. The result: becoming a better partner to your customers and carriers.
There are a number of good TMS solutions out there. We recommend choosing one based on your business' needs for customization, scalability, and access. But also consider factors like user-friendliness. For example, how easy is it to learn? Is data simple to process? Are many clicks required to complete a task? Is the user interface appealing? These items are important to consider as TMS adoption is integral to TMS success.
Smaller shippers should start with a streamlined solution for the quickest and most successful implementation. But once their business grows, their TMS will need to grow, too. Rather than having to switch TMS providers, select a TMS from the get-go that offers buildable solutions from the basics to the robust.
When a shipper partners with Evans, they gain access to our industry-leading TMS with the following features at no extra cost to them:
In today’s logistics industry, success is achieved when speed, accuracy, and cost-savings are combined. For these reasons, EDI and other legacy communication systems no longer provide their users with a competitive advantage. Enter application programming interface, better known as API.
API is a modern, web-based connectivity method that enables seamless communication between various systems. In the logistics industry, APIs connect the different parts of the logistics supply chain, ensuring 3PLs, carriers, and shippers operate with the same real-time, accurate information throughout the entire lifecycle of a shipment, from quote to invoice.
Benefits of API connectivity:
Evans is proud to partner with logistics-industry-disruptor project44 for unbeatable API connectivity. project44’s API solution uses a single integration point to connect with a large and ever-expanding network of highly qualified capacity providers.
Other API solution providers tend to have low capacity-provider adoption rates. But project44’s reputation and understanding of capacity providers’ needs ensures project44-enabled shippers access a full range of coverage possibilities across every transportation mode available in the U.S.
If you have an established TMS, how do you maximize its usefulness? With transportation optimization software that matches your transportation data with a set of chosen parameters — including modes, lanes, and the latest market information — to provide a set of realistic load plans that reduce your transportation cost and increase efficiencies.
The best transportation optimization software will be able to pull data from your TMS, such as historical shipping rates, lanes used, fuel index data, and mileage. From the collected data, you’ll get an output analysis. This analysis will give you detailed load plan comparisons, a savings summary, graphical illustrations of routes, pooling options, and more.
Partner with Evans and gain access to our powerful transportation optimization software and expert analysis team for an unbeatable competitive edge.