Trucker Tools adds TMS platform for produce shippers
Reston, Va.-based Trucker Tools recently integrated Freightflow, a cloud-based transportation management software (TMS) platform that helps perishable produce shippers and brokers manage the industry’s complex transportation needs.
Freightflow’s software currently is used by grower/shippers, wholesalers and distributors, and produce-focused 3PLs to plan and execute the timely transportation of goods to market, while driving efficiencies and costs savings, Trucker Tools said. Trucker Tools provides trip planning, shipment visibility, predictive freight matching, automated booking and digital document management solutions for brokers and carriers involved in truckload transportation.
According to Butch Peri, founder and chief executive of Freightflow, the integration enables Freightflow customers to seamlessly post available loads in Smart Capacity and quickly find a matching carrier. Capacity providers, using the Trucker Tools mobile driver app, can then accept the load, book it automatically, set up automated tracking and submit electronic documents to speed load management and payment. Shippers and carriers also benefit from an expanded pool of available carriers, with both grower/shippers and carriers working on one digital management platform that automates many formerly manual tasks.
More than 95% of Freightflow’s traffic moves with refrigerated carriers, Peri noted.
Freightflow has embraced the approach of evaluating and adopting best-in-class third-party technology offerings to complement and extend the capabilities of its platform, Peri continued. “We’re not going to invest development dollars reinventing the wheel,” he said. “We ask ourselves ‘What are the best tools that will benefit our customers?’ and then we integrate them into our platform. We find that in many cases both time to market and time to value are accelerated through this strategy.”
Peri added that in an industry that’s changing, “rapid deployment and intuitive ease of use, particularly with mobile apps, is more important than ever. And, as the industry continues to evolve, we want to partner long-term with providers who have proven development skill, have awareness of where the market is going digitally, and have a road map to get there,” he said. “We’re looking not just at what Trucker Tools can do with us today, but over the next 10 years.”
Launched in 2013, the Trucker Tools mobile driver app has been downloaded by 1.7 million truckers and is actively used by nearly 190,000 small-fleet operators of 10 trucks or less, the company said. Nearly 350 freight brokerages and 3PLs use the Smart Capacity digital freight-matching, automated booking, and load tracking suite.
Kary Jablonski, Trucker Tools chief executive, noted that interest in the Trucker Tools mobile app remains strong among owner-operators and the small fleet truckload community, as it has continued to rank as one of the top downloaded apps in any given month in transportation. “We are pleased and excited to be teaming up with Freightflow and bring to the table proven tools that will help produce shippers and distributors find and manage capacity more efficiently.”
