At the height of “panic shopping,” most Americans left grocery stores with essentials feeling lucky. At the same time, many of the drivers who arrived with them were down on their luck. So, we cooked up a fun way to have an immediate impact on one of our drivers by holding a #ThankATrucker Selfie #CarrierContest with a $500 prize.
Our Commitment to Connecting the Trucking Industry
The events of the last few months have allowed us here at Loadsmart to evaluate our commitment to connecting the trucking industry. We soon came to the consensus that our responsibility doesn’t stop at connecting shipments with carriers and vice versa.
To truly have a more transparent industry, we need to give shippers more visibility of their freight, but also give the industry more visibility of the drivers that are struggling to make ends meet while helping so many people do just that.
A message from Nick, our winner’s dispatcher
#ThankATrucker Selfie #CarrierContest
We’ve done several things to live up to this commitment already, including launching On the Road with Loadsmart, an interview series meant to connect the industry to the stories that matter, inspire, and are essential for giving credit to the unsung heroes of the road. In our first episode we interviewed one of our carriers, Joe Burks from American Citizens Transport, on his experience hauling freight through the pandemic. Catch the full episode here.
We also wanted to do something that could have an immediate impact on one of our drivers. From May 15 – June 15 we promoted our #ThankATrucker Selfie #CarrierContest across social media and via email. Drivers who sent a picture of themselves and their truck were entered to win $500 courtesy of Loadsmart.
The outpouring of responses into our inbox showed just how eager many drivers are to share their stories. We plan on using our growing platform to highlight as many of these as we can. Through them all, one thing was clear: drivers were truly pushed to the limit during all of this. While most of America shut down, they were put in overdrive.
Meet The Winner, Rushan
Rushan left home during the pandemic and started living in his truck. He’s been doing it for three months and is an incredibly hard worker. When we spoke to Nick at Dispatch 42, he said “Man, Rushan was feeling really unlucky…maybe his luck’s changed.”
What’s Next
Catch all the episodes of On the Road on our YouTube channel and keep your eye out for more contests just like this one in the coming months as we double down on our commitment to connecting the trucking industry.
We’re in the business of connecting the logistics industry, but that doesn’t stop at connecting shippers with carriers. Today, we’re launching On the Road with Loadsmart, a platform to connect the industry to the stories that matter, inspire, and are essential for giving credit to the unsung heroes of the road we have the privilege to work with every day.
For our first episode, our Director of Marketing, Matt Fleming, had the opportunity to sit down with Joe Burks from American Citizens Transport to talk about their experience hauling freight throughout the pandemic. You can watch the entire episode here.
Challenges Prior To The COVID-19 Pandemic
Matt: What were the challenges that you guys had as a business prior to COVID basically changing everything and then I’d love to learn a little more about the specific challenges you had trying to basically operate while a pandemic is underway.
Joe: Before the pandemic, I guess everything was going well. We had actually planned on putting up our building in the spring this year. Of course we put that off because of this. But, you know, it’s a hustle every single day to find what you need. We were just doing what everyone else was doing, right? Now, when the pandemic came that changed a few things for certain. Now all of a sudden there’s ten trucks available for every load. And there’s a tremendous amount of – let’s just say the brokers took full advantage of that because of their lack of volume. I’m sure they had to make their ends meet. It substantially drove rates down and we struggled through it just like everyone else. We had to switch what we were running over to essentials. You know what? We’re getting through it.
New Sources of Freight And New Parters
Matt: As you’re trying to transition to new sources of freight, potentially, I’m just curious did you end up working with new partners or end up working more with existing?
Joe: Certainly. Like I said, we had to get away from a product that was contaminated. As you can see, taking paper to the paper mill, that is basically scrap paper that was our primary deal from several markets. You know what, so yeah, we had to get into essentials, we’re hauling quite a bit of water now and dry food products.
Struggle Together And We’ll Get Through This
Matt: Is there anything else that you feel I should have asked you about, but didn’t?
Joe: It might take a couple of more hours daily to meet your needs, make sure everybody is good. Of course, the fore load and the backload is more important now than ever just because of the way the rates have been driven down because of this. You can’t just go one way and come back empty no more. You won’t be in business long. But you know what all in all, just like everybody else, just do what we gotta to do and get through and struggle together and we’ll get through it together.
More Stories and More Episodes
You can watch the entire episode with Joe Burks, from American Citizens Transport here.
We look forward to learning more and sharing the stories of the people making sure we all have the things we need and the key to their perseverance during the pandemic. What’s next for their businesses and their thoughts on the on-going impact the pandemic will have on the market.
It may seem like a long time ago that we were all talking about toilet paper shortages; in reality, it was only a few months ago. And while there is no longer a toilet paper shortage, we can’t lose sight of how it made its way back to shelves across America.
For America’s Truck Drivers “Essential” Means Doing Their Job
Much of the country and services came to a screeching halt when the pandemic arrived and are slow to resume. Americans continue to look to “essential workers” to step up to the plate and keep our country’s supply chain running.
A critical but often overlooked link in the supply chain, trucking, was quickly forced into the limelight. Because if you buy something, a truck has to bring it. And thankfully, our nation’s truck drivers just kept trucking.
America is still struggling with how Covid-19 has altered our daily lives and what that means for families and the future of businesses. Meanwhile, truck drivers continue to risk their health and that of their families to ensure products get to stores and hospitals.
If you Google “truck drivers during the pandemic,” you will find lots of articles about truck drivers finally gaining recognition as a vital link in the supply chain. Some even refer to them as “road heroes.”
Read a few articles. It only takes a few to see many responses from truckers like, “This is just what we have to do,” “We did what we had to do,” and “We just keep rolling.”
They are unquestionably the new humble heroes of the supply chain, doing their job, one they do every day, pandemic or no pandemic, and proud to do it.
But, unless you’re behind the wheel of a truck, you haven’t experienced the lines at facilities, been faced with new loading precautions, and been unable to find open restrooms or restaurants, it’s hard to truly appreciate the challenges and sacrifices truckers have made as we depend on them more than ever.
Truck Driver Experience Is Important to Logistics Technology Companies
At Loadsmart, we consider ourselves lucky because we get to talk to carriers every day and have employees who have spent years in the industry getting to know carriers across the county.
There is a very real (and fair) stigma attached to logistics technology companies; many feel they are too far removed from the day-to-day life of a truck driver to understand their challenges genuinely.
Our shippers, carriers, and logistics partners are at the core of what we do at Loadsmart and we believe it’s a privilege to share the road with them every day.
Carriers Persevere Through Covid-19 Pandemic Hardships
While the toilet paper jokes have mostly subsided, we don’t want the hardships felt by carriers during the Covid-19 pandemic (and the humans behind them) to go untold. There is much to be grateful for and to learn from their continued perseverance to keep America’s shelves stocked.
Carriers Tell Us First Hand About Their Pandemic Struggles and Challenges
Our thought is, the best way to do that is to share our carriers’ stories and let them tell us first hand about the struggles and challenges they face while working through the current crisis.
We’ve reached out to some of our carriers, shippers and logistics partners and the amazing people we get to share ports, loading docks, highways, and rests stops with and asked them if they would do us the honor of sharing their stories with us.
We are excited to bring you their stories to you in the coming weeks and months through an on-going video series. Matt Fleming, our Director of Marketing, will have video chats with carriers to learn more about the personal and professional impact Covid-19 has had on them.
We look forward to learning more and sharing the stories of the people making sure we all have the things we need and the key to their perseverance during the pandemic. What’s next for their businesses and their thoughts on the on-going impact the pandemic will have on the market.
Integration offers new capabilities to improve on-time service and eliminate a traditional bottleneck in the movement of freight
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., and NEW YORK – June 10, 2020 —Loadsmart, a leading digital freight technology company, today announced a technical and strategic partnership with Opendock, a market leader in centralized dock scheduling software for shippers and carriers. The API-enabled integration of Loadsmart’s digital freight platform and Smart Scheduling technology, with Opendock’s dock management software, enables shippers to simplify and accelerate the scheduling process by identifying and booking the best possible appointment with minimal human intervention.
For most shippers and carriers, scheduling has long been a time-consuming, manual process that typically requires multiple phone calls and emails to book an appointment. This process becomes even more problematic when appointments must be rescheduled due to a change in the driver’s estimated arrival time. Recognizing this challenge and the potential of leveraging artificial intelligence, the two companies have forged this collaboration to automate appointment scheduling for the more than 1,800 warehouses that utilize Opendock.
“Shippers are increasingly looking for new ways to leverage technology to eliminate bottlenecks and improve the efficiency of their supply chains,” said Ricardo Salgado, CEO and co-founder of Loadsmart, “The integration of our Smart Scheduling technology with Opendock’s centralized dock management software enables us to remove friction and streamline the appointment scheduling process for our shared customers.”
Shippers will immediately benefit from improved efficiency and better service. The integration allows Loadsmart’s Smart Scheduling technology to instantly select and book the best possible appointment by using artificial intelligence to analyze travel time and other factors. Should a driver’s ETA change while en route, the integration even enables Loadsmart to automatically reschedule the appointment in seconds.
“We are excited to be partnering with Loadsmart and their Smart Scheduling capability. It’s impressive how they are using technology to simplify and streamline what’s historically been a very complex and time-consuming process, ” said Bob La Loggia, CEO of Opendock. “With this partnership, we’re eliminating a traditional bottleneck that impacts efficiency and on-time service.”
Loadsmart has completed phase one of the integration with Opendock and is already seeing positive results, including a substantial improvement in on-time performance. The company plans on continuing to enhance and expand integration touchpoints to make even more use of Opendock’s scheduling capabilities.
Ready to learn more?
Join Loadsmart and Opendock June 18th at 2PM EST as they discuss the partnership and joint solution. Register Now.
About Loadsmart:
Transforming the future of freight, Loadsmart leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning and strategic partnerships to automate how freight is priced, booked and shipped. Pairing advanced technologies with deep-seated industry expertise, Loadsmart fuels growth, simplifies operational complexity and bolsters efficiency for carriers and shippers alike. For more information, please visit https://loadsmart.com.
About Opendock:
Opendock is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is utilized daily by every major freight carrier and broker, including C.H. Robinson, Schneider, JB Hunt, Werner, and others. Additionally, thousands of warehouses use the system for managing their dock availability. Warehouses range from small operations to 3PLs to some of the largest shippers in the world, such as International Paper, Cargill, Owen & Minor, Pepsi, ADM, and Unilever. To learn more about Opendock dock scheduling software, visit http://www.opendock.com.
New Solution Adds Transload Services and Powers Instant Execution and Seamless Transparency Across Full Shipment Lifecycle
Loadsmart, a digital freight technology company, today announced the launch of its Multimodal Services offering, which bridges port drayage, transload and over-the-road truckload shipping. Shippers will now be able to instantly execute multimodal shipments and obtain full transparency across their entire lifecycle—from the port, to the transload facility, onto the vehicles, and, ultimately, to their intended destinations – all from a single digital logistics partner.
Transload refers to the point in the supply chain where containers from the port are unloaded at a distribution warehouse and the goods are then transferred to one or more trailers. Transload providers are often siloed from other transportation segments, including the carrier providing over-the-road services, ultimately causing limited visibility and inefficiency. The absence of integration amongst multiple providers results in a blind spot for shippers, who lack the necessary granular insight. Loadsmart’s Multimodal Services solution brings complete visibility for shippers, consignees, and other interested parties during the entire shipment lifecycle, down to the single package level.
“Loadsmart is one step closer to becoming the go-to platform for intelligent logistics execution,” said Felipe Capella, co-founder and president at Loadsmart. “Through direct integrations with leading transportation management systems, port terminals and now warehouse management systems, we have programmatically wired a big part of the supply chain to arm shippers with the real-time execution and visibility they need.”
Transparent and accurate data helps shippers proactively and effectively manage transportation costs and outcomes. By gaining increased transparency, shippers can develop a transformative and timely strategy for the organization.
“We want to empower planners and logistics professionals on the customer side to be 10 times more efficient than before. Giving them the ability to work with a single vendor for executing and tracking their multimodal shipments makes their job that much easier, especially when many are still working from home.” Capella added.
Traditionally, obtaining visibility from the warehouse through the rest of a shipment’s life cycle has been a challenge for 3PLs and their shipper customers, due to the sheer variety of warehouse management system (WMS) vendors. To address these inefficiencies, Loadsmart’s Multimodal Services offering is designed to be warehouse agnostic. Warehouses can now opt to integrate their WMS with Loadsmart, or alternatively, use Loadsmart’s free web-based platform to manage containers, assign goods to trailers and arrange inland pickups. All of this can be done by simply logging on to a web interface — no integration required.
Growing customer expectations for increased speed and transparency have made reducing complexity and improving efficiency an imperative for modern supply chains. Nowhere is this more apparent than for multi-modal shipments, where shippers are forced to navigate a tangled web of different vendors and technologies. With its Multimodal Services offering, Loadsmart is uniquely positioned to transform the way companies manage their multimodal freight, offering a single source for shipment execution and unparalleled visibility from the port to the final destination.
With most Americans sheltering at home under government stay-at-home orders, the COVID-19 pandemic has flipped the switch on the domestic freight market.
Responding to Abrupt Market Disruptions With Digital Freight Technology
The freight frenzy came on fast but seems to have left even quicker. US Freight volumes have plunged to the lowest rate since Freightwaves began recording them in 2018.
Capacity continues to loosen with most of the country on lockdown and with industries not fully functioning there isn’t enough freight to keep capacity tight.
Logistics and supply chain companies remain the backbone of the U.S. economy and the American way of life.
So, how do supply chains continue to function smoothly and consistently during such an unprecedented and unplanned for global crisis?
What’s Happening In The Domestic Freight Market?
Over the past year, the outbound tender index had been remarkably low, putting pressure on carriers and brokers throughout the market because the majority of freight was moving through primary award carriers.
The market saw low rates of rejection by carriers as they were grabbing all their contracted or fixed opportunities, leaving little spot or overflow freight available for carriers and brokers.
What is the Current Status of the US Freight Market?
Market conditions quickly shifted in late February and March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We initially saw levels that exceeded 2018 in early March, but now things are starting to return to pre-crisis levels.
It’s not just the extreme levels that we saw, but the rate of change that was extraordinary. It wasn’t a steady gradual adjustment with capacity decreasing week over week or month over month with rejection rates increasing, leaving more spot freight on the market. It was as though, almost overnight there was an explosion of spot freight coming into the market that needed to be covered.
It’s important to note that what we are all seeing behind these numbers is not just business as usual. Seasonality trends and all normal expectations were pushed aside as the highest levels in months appeared out of nowhere.
Moving freight is always a critical function in the US economy, but the unprecedented level of urgency, the critical nature of the goods being moved and the need to get them to their destination quickly given the current crisis situation.
What does the COVID-19 data say?
Volume fell 30% off this year’s peak on Mar 23.
Supply is strong.
The Outbound Tender Rejection Index sits at 5.06%, off a high of 20.2%. When the spot market cools, carriers return to more profitable or consistent contracted business. That means carriers reject fewer contracted tenders = lower OBTRI.
Rateson Long Haul runs have tumbled while short-haul rates remain stable.
How Can Transportation Management Systems (TMS) Keep Supply Chains moving during COVID-19?
Shipping companies should be turning to technology to help weather the storm and come out on the other side of COVID-19 set up for success. Technology allows shippers to collaborate with supply chain stakeholders while they are working remotely and makes connecting with additional truck capacity easier and more efficient.
NOW is the time for shippers to lean more heavily on technology.
3 Ways your TMS can help combat market volatility?
At Loadsmart we believe that leveraging technology and thinking about your TMS from a broader perspective gives shippers an advantage when faced with market volatility.
1. Accelerate Rate Discovery with Instant Rates
For shippers, especially those with a large volume to cover, the challenge of getting a price, that’s not a paper rate, that you have confidence in, and that’s truly indicative of the actual capacity that’s also bookable is tough.
Many companies that were using more efficient solutions to cover their spot freight prior to the COVID-19 crisis are reverting back to older solutions to keep their heads above water.
The need to get rates, capture data coupled with the complexity and confusion in the market has caused them to go back to swapping spreadsheets over email with lists of carriers and brokers.
Getting rates, understanding what genuinely bookable truly liquid rates are out there is generally a challenge, especially for companies that haven’t invested in integrations with more machine learning-driven instant pricing solutions.
Still, in the current market, it’s even more difficult. Just capturing the eyeballs of a carrier or broker to make sure they get you a rate is a challenge and knowing if the rate is going to be good and how long it’s valid is difficult. We believe that ultimately this is not a challenge shippers should be facing.
We recognize that in a market like the current one, there are going to be multiple problems to solve and considerable challenges to overcome. Yet, we don’t think that getting a bookable rate should be one of them.
It really should be much more straightforward. Much more scalable. And much more automated.
So those having to make procurement decisions can spend their time and their energy on more critical challenges than just trying to figure out what rates are available.
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing how freight is priced and shipped.
The thought that someone on a sales team receives a rate request then has to connect with operations and others within a brokerage or carrier, trying to understand what availability is out there is exhausting. Then they still have to decide how much to mark it up and how much they can squeeze out of the customer, then after some time which can be hours someone gets back to the shipper with an instantly bookable rate – those days are behind us.
Pricing calculations need to use the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning models.
AI-powered pricing provides shippers with many more rate options while reducing the headcount cost associated with calculating rates.
Having a sales team, whose compensation is almost entirely driven by how much they can squeeze out of a customer and how much they can mark up to the shipper focused on calculating rates is not necessary.
Now you can have algorithms calculate the rate, and you don’t have to pay them a commission.
The market then becomes more efficient, which allows us to offer more value to Loadsmart customers rather than price gouging, which has been typical with spot in the past.
Using a machine learning model allows us to provide our customers with an instantly bookable rate in a matter of seconds, by ingesting large amounts of data (over 500 different data points) allowing us to provide a rate within 2 to 3 seconds in any one of over 900,000 lanes across the United States.
2. Make Your Routing Guide Respond to Market Conditions
Let’s dig a bit deeper into the idea of the routing guide and how integrating your routing guide with a solution like Loadsmart makes your routing guide better and smarter.
Those that didn’t see much volume running through your routing guide last year have certainly seen the dust blown off that routing guide recently.
What Is The Problem With Traditional Freight Routing Guides?
Traditional routing guides are static. Routing guide rates only get updated a few times a year, and loads can spend hours or days in routing. Rates are often significantly higher than the spot market.
Why Are Dynamic Freight Routing Guides Important?
With Loadsmart’s dynamic routing guide, rates update in real-time and we accept 100% of tenders instantly. You can take advantage when market rates are below routing guide rates.
Integrating with Loadsmart’s dynamic routing guide allows you to reduce the amount of freight that goes to the spot market, you can get routing guide freight covered much faster, and pay less to move freight than you would by relying on only static rates.
3. Find the Best Carrier, Faster with Algorithmic Sourcing
Algorithmic sourcing is the best way to get a carrier to cover a load. Getting the right pricing, knowing the rate you are paying is reasonable and that the tender gets accepted by the carrier broker is critical. But it’s also imperative to understand that when you are working with a broker like Loadsmart, how they go about choosing the carrier who ultimately ends up moving your freight.
Algorithmic Sourcing – The Old Paradigm vs. The New Normal
Traditionally the only way for a broker to get a load covered was to have an army of carrier salespeople pounding away at keyboards and dialing the phone all day, communicating with carriers trying to get freight covered.
We understand and respect the value that comes with a carrier sales team and have our own carrier sales team at Loadsmart. That said, we also realize that over the long term, much more freight needs to be covered based on algorithmic decision making rather than by individuals to allow carrier sales to focus on the relationships they have with carriers.
Making sure carriers meet service levels and are performing as they need to is a better use of carrier sales time versus worrying and touching every single load.
Algorithmic sourcing allows you to move the load through the system without the support of a carrier salesperson (unless in the case of an exception), giving your team time to build better relationships with carriers and while increasing operational efficiencies.
How does Loadsmart Use Algorithmic Sourcing?
There are 3.83 Million Class 8 Trucks on the road in the United States.
For shippers that were recently struggling to get their freight covered, that may seem like not enough, but the reality is there is a tremendous amount of capacity out there in total. That’s important to note because it speaks to the complexity and the challenges associated with choosing a specific truck to move a particular load.
Considering the complexity of a problem where you measure in millions, not single digits or tens of thousands, it’s hard not to think that there really has to be a better solution out there.
One would imagine there has to be an algorithm out there that is capable of finding way more options than a person possibly could.
Who has the time it would take to consider millions of options before making a decision? Not logistics professionals who need to ship a lot of items very quickly while keeping costs down for both themselves and their customers.
How Does Loadsmart Help Shippers Consider Millions Of Freight Options?
Loadsmart helps shippers consider millions of freight options by using technology as much as possible. We start by determining which carriers we feel should be part of our network.
We use technology to make better carrier network decisions by integrating with all sorts of 3rd party data sources, including RMIS, FMCSA, which gives us access to inspection data and carrier safety records and even integrations with load boards.
Load board integrations are essential to us, not because we are trying to move freight on the load board, but because it allows us to monitor carrier behavior on the load board.
Here’s an example of why load board monitoring is essential.
By integrating with load boards, Loadsmart’s able to see how many trucks on average a given carrier has posted on that load board. That’s important because we also know how many trucks they have in their fleet. We get that number directly from the carriers we currently work with and easily capture the number from other sources when it’s not.
Let’s say we know a carrier has ten trucks in their fleet. I can see that on one or two major load boards they are consistently posting 50, 60, 100 trucks. What data has historically told us is that it’s probably a carrier you don’t want to work with because they are representing that they have much more capacity than they do.
They may be out there fishing for loads for trucks even though they already accepted a tender putting them at high risk for being the type of carrier that will drop a load just before pickup because they got a better offer. That is not the type of carrier Loadsmart wants to move our customers’ freight.
Making sure the carriers that you have in your network are carriers you want to be doing business with is just one of many examples of the things Loadsmart can do with the massive amounts of data we ingest from 3rd party sources. It allows us to solve particular problems for our customers.
Bonus: Keeping Your Loading Docks Open And Fully Utilized
Loadsmart can help improve the throughput of your loading docks to ensure your facilities, which may already be under pressure under current market conditions, are running as efficiently as possible.
While this is the way everyone books appointments, we believe there is a better solution that improves the throughput of facilities while also reducing driver wait time.
In any market condition, the quality of driver experience is super important, but especially in times like now, when every minute and every hour of driver time and facility availability is vital. We want to make sure that both the driver over time and the facility capacity are being used in the most efficient way possible, not wasting anyone’s time and not wasting available dock hours.
So, how do we make that happen?
We accomplish this by integrating with the facility to capture real-time dock availability through an API allowing us to book an appointment when booking the load automatically.
That allows us to book an appointment automatically when booking the load. Instead of having to call or email the facility, we can grab an appointment instantly and automatically by integrating with the doc scheduling tool that you are using.
Integrating via API allows us to grab the appointment availability and lock in the appointment much quicker while also taking advantage of the tracking data we capture. At Loadsmart, we are obsessed with tracking and put the data to work by using the real-time ETA of when the truck is going to arrive at the facility to see if we need to update the appointment, which we do automatically while the drive is still en route.
By doing this, we are able to avoid situations where drivers arrive at times outside their scheduled appointment time. For example, a driver’s expected to arrive at noon, but we know thanks to real-time ETA data that the driver is going to get there at 8 AM.
Rather than having the driver sit there and wait for four hours, we can automatically ping that facility via the integration with the dock scheduling tool to see if there is an earlier appointment available. Then if there is an appointment that is closer to the driver’s real-time ETA, we can grab that and give back our previously scheduled time.
Why does this matter?
The person at the gate doesn’t have to worry about trucks showing up early or late, and drivers don’t have to sit there and wait for their initially scheduled appointment if they are too early or to get worked in if they are late.
Instead, we more closely align their ETA of their truck with an appointment much closer to their arrival time. Meaning you have fewer drivers waiting at the gate and less driver time wasted waiting at a facility in general. You can improve the throughput of the facility because you have a better match with when the truck arrives and when there is an available gate to get that truck loaded or unloaded and move on to the next truck.
In times like we are experiencing now, driver time and facility efficiency are critical. But in any market conditions, we all need to show more respect for drivers’ time and the driver experience.
Automating and integrating with the dock scheduling tool allows us to reduce driver wait time and be much smarter about real-time appointments, which improves your network.
How Can Shippers Prepare For The Next Supply Chain Disruption?
Shippers can and should prepare for the next supply chain disruptions by implementing digital freight technologies NOW, not when the next disruption happens.
The last few months have shown shippers that volume can surge, and outbound tender rejections can rise to unprecedented levels at the drop of a hat.
While outbound tender rejections begin to fall, providing stability for shippers now is necessary to ensure the next disruption doesn’t catch you off-guard. Integrating with digital freight technologies now will give you peace of mind and make managing the next crisis easier.
As uncertainty grows, shippers are turning to technology for greater clarity to leverage instant market-based pricing and dynamic routing to deliver real savings while improving service.
Don’t wait for the next disruption to happen. Integrate your TMS with Loadsmart now to help you build, manage, and tender loads.
Integration offers shippers new tools to improve efficiency and gain superior visibility for their shipments
HOLLAND, Mich. and NEW YORK – April 8, 2020 – BluJay Solutions, a leading provider of global supply chain software and services, and Loadsmart, a digital freight technology company, today announced a strategic and technical partnership that delivers greater transportation efficiency and visibility to shippers. The API-enabled integration of Loadsmart’s digital freight platform with BluJay’s cloud-based transportation management software (TMS) allows customers access to Loadsmart’s offering of instantly bookable truckload rates and guaranteed capacity directly within the BluJay platform.
“Loadsmart and BluJay share a passion for innovation and a commitment to putting customers first, making this partnership a natural fit,” said Felipe Capella, president and co-founder of Loadsmart. “The integration of our industry-leading platform with BluJay’s first-of-its-kind cloud-based TMS delivers tangible value to our shared customers, who now can more seamlessly and efficiently lock in rates and capacity through a single UI.”
Customers benefit from improved efficiency and reduced transportation costs. The integration allows for Loadsmart’s real-time, bookable rates to appear within BluJay’s Transportation Management application in the Carrier Shop, Routing Guide, or both. As a result, shippers can automatically tender the load and receive status updates from pickup through delivery, with near-real-time tracking.
“Our partnership and integration with Loadsmart couldn’t come at a better time for BluJay and our customers. The current pandemic has had a tremendous impact on freight rates and capacity. The Loadsmart solution, combined with the advanced capabilities of the BluJay TMS, will help our shippers rapidly secure capacity at a competitive rate. Even once the environment settles, Loadsmart will provide our customers with the tools needed to improve visibility, control costs and improve operational efficiency,” said David Landau, chief product officer at BluJay.
About Loadsmart Transforming the future of freight, Loadsmart leverages artificial intelligence, machine learning and strategic partnerships to automate how freight is priced, booked and shipped. Pairing advanced technologies with deep-seated industry expertise, Loadsmart fuels growth, simplifies operational complexity and bolsters efficiency for carriers and shippers alike. For more information, please visit: https://loadsmart.com.
About BluJay Solutions BluJay Solutions helps companies around the world achieve excellence in logistics and trade compliance – it’s in our DNA. Through a blend of Data, Networks, and Applications, delivered in the BluJay Way, our DNA platform powers the Frictionless Supply Chain for thousands of the world’s leading manufacturers, retailers, distributors, freight forwarders, customs brokers, carriers, and logistics service providers. To learn more, visit: http://www.blujaysolutions.com, or follow us on Twitter @myblujay and LinkedIn.
These are uncertain times, but you’re not letting that stop you from keeping America running.
Only a couple of weeks ago, transportation was humming along as usual: freight volumes were normal and flat and carriers were only rejecting their contracted loads 4% of the time.
Since COVID-19 has gripped America’s conscious and economy in early March, carriers have been faced with an unprecedented surge in shipments that eclipsed records previously set in 2018.
FreightWaves Sonar
Freight volume seemingly grew +30% over night and tender rejections grew to their highest point in several months.
This surge has forced truckers to spend even more time on the road and less time with their families… all to keep grocery store shelves full and pharmacies fully stocked.
From everyone at Loadsmart, we want to thank our carriers for their work and acknowledge their sacrifice.
And while you’re out there for all of us, we’ll be here for you.
To our carriers, thank you for giving Loadsmart the opportunity to make your job a bit easier in a difficult time. Together, we keep America running: https://hubs.ly/H0p11sG0
The CB Insights research team selected the AI 100 from nearly 5,000 companies based on factors including patent activity, investor quality, and proprietary Mosaic scores. The Mosaic Score, based on CB Insights’ algorithm, measures the overall health and growth potential of private companies to help predict a company’s momentum. This year’s list includes:
100 emerging private companies with a cumulative of $7.4B in funding across 300+ deals from 600+ unique investors.
10 unicorns (companies valued over $1B)
Healthcare, retail & warehouse, and finance & insurance companies across 13 countries
Loadsmart is the only digital freight marketplace to be recognized in its category, underscoring the company’s innovative approach to addressing supply chain challenges through a mix of advanced technology and deep-seated industry experience.
Click ☝️to download full report
“At Loadsmart, we pride ourselves on cultivating meaningful relationships with those at the helm of the supply chain—shippers and carriers—and crafting visionary AI-based solutions to ensure they succeed and thrive,” said Ricardo Salgado, CEO and co-founder of Loadsmart. “We’re honored to be recognized as a leading tech innovator in the commercial transportation sector, and enthusiastically look forward to continued collaboration and growth.”
In this on-demand webinar, join Hunter Yaw, VP of Product at Loadsmart and Adam Wells, Director of Strategic Alliances at MercuryGate, as they walk through five ways shippers can leverage Loadsmart and MercuryGate to deliver tangible cost savings, improve service, and get more out of their TMS.
They discuss how to…
Accelerate rate discovery by adding instant rates to your TMS
Beat the market by making your routing guide responsive to market conditions
Eliminate surprises by tracking freight in near real-time
Find the best carrier, faster with algorithmic sourcing
This is the 3rd edition of my predictions for the 12 months ahead. You can check my January 2018 and January 2019 editions and decide for yourself if I was too off (yes, some of them were too optimistic!). Emergence of Carrier Digitization: Motor carriers are feeling the pain of being held prisoner by legacy […]
Loadsmart, a digital freight technology company, was awarded #15th place at the 2020 Freight.Tech25 awards held at Freightwaves Live CHICAGO. The award marks the second time Loadsmart has been recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the freight industry, having placed 22nd in 2019.
The FreightTech 25, chosen from the FreightTech 100, highlights the most disruptive companies across the freight and transportation industries, featuring both cutting-edge upstarts and top-notch traditional powers.
“All of our efforts have been focused on developing the right technology and partnerships to make Loadsmart the go-to-marketplace for logistics execution. We are confident that this approach will bring long-term sustainable change to the industry, which to date has seen many companies follow the traditional path of blitzscaling-for-market-share,” said Felipe Capella, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder at Loadsmart, “Moving up in Freight Tech’s Top 25 most innovative companies is further validation that we are moving in the right direction.”
Loadsmart Awarded #15 in Freight.Tech 25
The FreightTech.25 isn’t the first time Loadsmart has been recognized by analysts and industry groups. In the past 12 months, the company was awarded “Digital Brokerage of the Year” by Frost & Sullivan, nominated by Gartner as a Cool Vendor for “Intelligent SCE Technologies” and recognized by CB Insights as a disruptor in the supply chain industry.
Loadsmart’s “State of Truckload” report combines Loadsmart’s proprietary rate and capacity data with third party information to help explain what happened in the market during the previous quarter.
The third quarter of 2019 saw signals shift from warning about the possibility of a slow down to indicating an economic contraction. Cass Information’s Freight Shipment Index, an index based on $28b in freight volume, has remained negative on a year-over-year basis since December 2018, meaning monthly freight volumes have been consistently lower than 2018 levels for ten consecutive months. In Q3 the index was down an average of -4.11% per month compared to the same time the previous year.
And while linehaul rates showed signs of improvement in the third quarter, with modest month over month growth in July (+1.5%) and September (+2.3%), they remained on average -1.53% below the same time last year.
The US economy also offered its own indicators suggesting signs of an economic contraction. The 10-year Treasury Yield continued to fall in July and August before initially improving in September, reaching a peak of 1.901 on 9/14. Unfortunately, that improvement quickly evaporated as it fell to 1.675 by 9/30, which put it inline with levels previously seen in mid-August. As of mid-October, it has recovered to 1.755.
Adding more fuel to the fire, the New York Federal Reserve estimated that the probability of a 2020 recession had risen to 37.93% in August, its highest level since March 2008, before slightly decreasing to 34.8% in September. Meanwhile consumer sentiment has been in decline since March (94), hitting 89 in September — a -5.3% decrease. The jobs report came in with preliminary numbers for September at 180,000 – a healthy uptick from the original projection of 136,000. It will be an important metric to watch as the number is finalized in the coming months.
It’s important to note — “soft” economic data like consumer sentiment have finally begun to show cracks as the trade war with China continues. This was particularly evident in August as consumer sentiment fell by the most since 2012, coinciding with the U.S. declaring China a currency manipulator and both sides issuing new rounds of tariffs on one another’s imports.
The net-net? Q3 indicators are showing early signs of an economic contraction.
GLASS HALF FULL:
Linehaul rates showed MoM improvement in July & September
Cass Information Systems Shipment Index showed moderate MoM growth in August and September
Non-farm payrolls group by 180,000 in September, according to the preliminary jobs report
GLASS HALF EMPTY:
Freight volume has been down on a YoY basis for ten consecutive months
Consumer sentiment has finally begun to show signs of weakness. In August it fell by the most since 2012
Probability of a recession in 2020 hit its highest level since 2008-2009 in August (37.93%), before decreasing slightly to 34.8%
10-year treasury yield shows continued signs of decline, reaching 1.675 at the end of September, before recovering slightly by mid-October
Capacity
TRUCKLOAD CAPACITY SURPLUS CONTINUES IN Q3 2019
In the third quarter truckload capacity across both dry van and reefer remained above levels previously seen in 2018 and 2017. This is not altogether unexpected, as 2018 was a breakout year for shipment volume and capacity was constrained due to new regulations and other factors. According to Loadsmart’s own proprietary capacity index, which is an aggregated view of available truck data from several sources, capacity tightened roughly 22% in July before returning to levels 5-7% lower what was previously seen in June. This is still notably tighter from the peak available truck numbers posted in April.
LOADSMART CAPACITY INDEX
DRY VAN
After showing an initial contraction in June, DAT’s Van Load to Truck Ratio hovered between 2.09 and 2.39 loads per truck from July to September. On average, this represented a 6% increase over ratios seen in the second quarter, while still remaining 25-50% lower than what was previously recorded 2018 and 2017.
In the third quarter, reefer capacity was tighter than what was previously seen in Q2, hovering between 3.65 and 4.46 loads per truck, while still being significantly below the peak of 5.11 seen in June. According to DAT, harsh weather hurt harvests, kept rates from climbing, and caused some carriers to shift and compete for dry van loads. The moderate increase in September was largely due to the onset of apple harvest season. On the whole, Q3 reefer load-to-truck rations were nearly 25-60% lower than levels seen in 2018 and 2017.
TRUCKLOAD LINEHAUL RATES INCREASE MONTH OVER MONTH DUE TO SEASONALITY WHILE STILL REMAINING LOWER THAN 2018 LEVELS
According to Cass Information Systems, truckload linehaul rates (without fuel) increased month over month by approximately 2.3% due to seasonality while remaining below the previous years levels. Both DAT and Cass show spot pricing continuing to be significantly lower than contracted rates and as such, will likely represent a larger percentage of the mix going into the fourth quarter.
Van spot rates (including fuel), held relatively steady in Q3, hovering between $1.84 and $1.81 per mile, which is approximately 2-4% lower than the peak of $1.89 seen in June. Diesel prices had a slightly negative impact on rates in July and August, decreasing approximately 2%, before increasing by ~$0.10 (+2.7%) in September.
Contracted rates remained relatively stable through August, hovering at $2.24 per mile, before decreasing to $2.21 in September (-2.7%). There remains a 15-20% delta between spot and contracted rates. There remains a 15-20% delta between spot and contracted rates.
DAT VAN LOAD-TO-TRUCK, SPOT RPM AND CONTRACTED RPM
Reefer spot rates followed a similar trend to dry van. Spot prices remained between $2.18 and $2.16 per mile, while contracted rates hovered between $2.47 and $2.46 per mile. Like their dry van counterparts, spot remained significantly lower than contracted rates (12-14%).
DAT REEFER LOAD-TO-TRUCK, SPOT RPM AND CONTRACTED RPM
DIESEL PRICES DECREASE IN JULY AND AUGUST BEFORE MODERATELY INCREASING IN SEPTEMBER
Diesel prices remained neutral to negative in July and August before showing a 2.7% increase by late September, hovering just around $3.08 per gallon. Kiplinger, a leading publisher of business forecasts, predicts that diesel prices will not move dramatically higher or lower in the coming weeks.
With year over year freight volume declining for the tenth consecutive month, in addition to other economic indicators like the falling 10-year Treasury Yield and cracks in consumer sentiment, there’s reason for elevated concern.
Our take? These signals, when taken together, are indicative of an economic contraction. And while contraction is concerning, shippers have an opportunity to save in 2019 while capacity is high and spot rates remain significantly lower than other contracted options.
How Loadsmart Can Help
Loadsmart can help you take advantage of favorable market conditions by inserting real time rates alongside the static prices in your routing guide. This is made possible via direct integration with your TMS. In today’s market, there’s nearly a 20% gap between spot and contracted rates — savings which can be captured with Dynamic Routing.
Ready to Learn More?
Contact us at sales@loadsmart.com or (646) 887 6278. We look forward to working with you.
Disclaimer:
Materials in this presentation may contain information about Loadsmart Inc.’s future plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Included in forward looking statements are statements such as:
Statements regarding market trends in the U.S. freight industry, including freight volume and pricing, market size and the state of transportation management systems;
Some forward-looking statements can also be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” or similar words.
Such forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change such statements, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from our current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. In evaluating forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, we caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement, and readers should specifically consider the various factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.
In addition, any information contained in this presentation was current as of the date presented and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our estimates change, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Consequently, readers should not rely upon the information as current or accurate after the presentation date.
New Solution Maximizes Loaded Miles by Matching Carrier Availability with Shipper Demand Through Advanced Integrations and Machine Learning
NEW YORK, Oct. 8, 2019—Loadsmart, a digital freight technology company, today announced the launch of its Smart Match tool, which provides carriers a faster, easier way to find the right loads to improve their bottom line. By directly integrating with the fleet management platforms relied on by carriers, Loadsmart is able to use machine learning to programmatically match available trucks with the freight it’s awarded via integrations with some of the most popular transportation management systems.
Loadsmart is offering a new level of digital freight matching targeted primarily toward enterprise carriers. With API integration directly to both the carrier and the shipper TMS, Smart Match uses the location of trucks to instantly connect available capacity with shipper demand, maximizing revenue per loaded mile and improving the bottom line.
“Smart Match empowers carriers to move beyond the current load-to-truck paradigm, filtering through endless freight being offered, and instead go truck-to-load, pulling freight from the cloud onto their assets to help balance their network ,” said Hunter Yaw, vice president of product management and business development, Loadsmart. “The new capability will help accelerate how carriers align their networks to the highest yield markets.”
With Smart Match, carriers can receive automated load recommendations based on the current and future availability of their trucks. And as a result of TMS integration and relationships with some of the country’s biggest shippers, Smart Match offers visibility to thousands of potential shipments.
Slowing demand, excess capacity and historic declines in freight rates have resulted in rampant “rightsizing” across the trucking industry, putting companies large and small out of business. More than ever before, carriers face margin pressures, stiff competition and operational challenges. The largely manual and time-consuming process of finding loads and aligning vehicle assets to the most profitable markets is a significant resource drain for for-hire fleets. Loadsmart’s Smart Match capability, which taps the power of machine learning and other technologies to automate the data-heavy task of load matching, speeds time to revenue and maximizes asset utilization.
“The transportation industry is at a pivotal crossroads rounding out a particularly tough year. We believe in equipping carriers and shippers with technology to succeed and thrive, while minimizing cost per transaction,” said Erik Malin, vice president of operations at Loadsmart. “With AI-powered Smart Match, we’re making it faster and easier for carriers to uncover the most profitable markets and find the right opportunities to grow their business.”
About Loadsmart Loadsmart is a digital freight technology company that specializes in full truckload and intermodal shipping. Loadsmart is leveraging data and machine learning to build artificial intelligence processes into the complex freight cycle, allowing shippers to book a truck in seconds and providing instant and targeted loads to carriers. For more information, please visit: https://loadsmart.com.
With all of the recent news (Starsky Partnership, Simple Quote Launch, and $19M in New Funding), our quarterly State of Truckload report was a bit delayed this past quarter. Now that we’ve caught our breath, we’re ready to share what we observed.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Loadsmart’s “State of Truckload” report combines industry leading data sources to help explain what happened in the market during the previous quarter.
The second quarter of 2019 saw warning signs of a possible economic slowdown shift from theory to reality. Cass Information’s Freight Shipment Index, an index based on $28b in freight volume, has remained negative on a year-over-year basis since December 2018, meaning that as of this past June, monthly freight volumes have been lower than 2018 levels for seven month in a row. That trend has continued in Q3 (more on that shortly).
Further, while truckload linehaul rates initially showed minor improvement in March, they fell nearly 3% in the second quarter.
The US economy also offered its own indicators suggesting a potential slow down. After the 10-year Treasury Yield moved back into correction territory at the end of March (2.41% on 3/31/2019), it fell even further in June (2.007% on 6/30/2019). The New York Federal Reserve estimated that the probability of a 2020 recession had risen to 37.9% in August, approaching the 40% level we see saw in 2008-2009.
Meanwhile consumer sentiment continued to strengthen, hitting 98.2 in June. The jobs report, after giving a scare in May (62,000 jobs), posted 178,000 new jobs in June, hovering a bit below its 102-month average.
It’s important to note — these trends have not happened in a vacuum. The tariffs and continuing trade war with China have taken their toll on the markets and added an extra headwind for Q3.
The net-net? Q1 indicators showed a slowdown compared to last year and hinted at the possibility of upcoming economic contraction. Q2 signals have all but confirmed that an economic contract is on the horizon.
GLASS HALF FULL:
Freight volume, while lower than the blockbuster levels of 2018, has shown relatively consistent month over month growth
Consumer Sentiment for June reached 98.2 and either matched or exceed 2018 levels for May and June
GLASS HALF EMPTY:
Economic contraction is on the horizon
Freight volume has been down on a YoY basis for seven consecutive months
Total construction spending remained below 2018 levels for the entire second quarter
YoY growth for truckload linehaul rates has continued slowing since mid-2018. June 2019 was only 0.9% more than June 2018.
10-year Treasury Yield has fallen back into correction territory
Probability of a recession in 2020 has risen to its highest level since 2008-2009. Again.
DAT’s Van Load to Truck ratio hovered between 1.45 and 3.13 loads per truck from April to June, a sharp difference from just a year ago when the ratio was between 3.51 and 6.29 loads per truck. The 2019 LTR even remained below 2017 levels.
The DAT reported that reefer load to truck ratios also remained below 2018 and 2017 levels, hovering between 2.58 – 5.11 loads per truck between April and June. That’s nearly nearly 70-80% lower than 2017 levels and 120-150% lower than 2018 metrics.
REDUCED SHIPMENT VOLUME AND MARKET UNCERTAINTY CREATE A PERFECT STORM FOR LINEHAUL RATES
According to Cass Information Systems, truckload linehaul rates (without fuel) continued to contract throughout Q2 and June remained just 0.9% above the previous years levels in June.
In our previous report, we found that van spot rates (including fuel), had been in steady decline since reaching $2.83 per mile in June of 2018. In the second quarter of 2019, spot rates continued to fall in April ($1.81) and May ($1.80), before surging to $1.89 in June. And while rising diesel prices helped spot rates reach their peak in 2018, they have continued to have a decidedly neutral impact in the second quarter.
Contracted rates remained relatively stable throughout Q2, hovering around $2.26 per mile.
Reefer rates followed a somewhat similar trend to dry van. Spot prices declined in April ($2.15) and May ($2.15) before surging in June ($2.26). Contracted rates fell roughly 2.4% from March, landing at $2.48 in June.
DIESEL PRICES INCREASE IN SECOND QUARTER, REMAIN BELOW 2018 PEAK
The price of diesel remained relatively consistent in Q2 2019, hovering between $3.16 and $3.09 per gallon. This represents a 2.5-3.5% increase over Q1.
With year over year freight volume declining for the seventh consecutive month, in addition to other economic indicators like the falling 10-year Treasury Yield, it’s relatively certain that we are on the edge of economic contraction. As such, elevated concern and planning for economic for 2020 is warranted.
How Loadsmart Can Help
Loadsmart can help you take advantage of favorable market conditions by inserting real time rates alongside the static prices in your routing guide. This is made possible via direct integration with your TMS. In today’s market, there’s a 15 – 20% gap between spot and contracted rates — savings which can be captured with Dynamic Routing.
Ready to Learn More?
Contact us at sales@loadsmart.com or (646) 887 6278. We look forward to working with you.
Disclaimer:
Materials in this presentation may contain information about Loadsmart Inc.’s future plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Included in forward looking statements are statements such as:
Statements regarding market trends in the U.S. freight industry, including freight volume and pricing, market size and the state of transportation management systems;
Some forward-looking statements can also be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” or similar words.
Such forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change such statements, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from our current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. In evaluating forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, we caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement, and readers should specifically consider the various factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.
In addition, any information contained in this presentation was current as of the date presented and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our estimates change, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Consequently, readers should not rely upon the information as current or accurate after the presentation date.
