Back in 2018, shippers in the US were frantically looking for transportation capacity to book their freight at a reasonable price. Higher levels of demand persisted throughout 2019 and veritably exploded during the early ’20s. With vulnerabilities throughout the supply chain highlighted, many companies have begun taking their logistics teams off Excels and antiquated in-house freight systems. As a result, the TMS acceptance and growth are expected to surpass the exponential curve between 2022 and 2025.
One of the primary supply chain processes is transportation and warehousing. It entails a wide range of tasks that must be effectively managed to ensure customer satisfaction. This includes carrier management, cargo tracking, and delivery planning. Small enterprises with few shipments might use spreadsheets and phone calls to manage such processes, but Excel is inadequate to handle elaborate transportation management whenever the business expands and grows. As a result, the growing business requires something more powerful at that stage, and specialized technologies such as TMS are the perfect fit.
In logistics, efficiency and speed are crucial. Since the transportation management system (TMS) has exceptional integration capabilities, the most widely used load boards now have the option of connecting to TMS as well. TMS and Load Board integration provides an excellent user experience and saves time. Logistics teams can post and search for loads without leaving the TMS or adding another step to the lengthy booking process. This and many more advantages and insights are possible by just incorporating a load board into TMS.
Integrations of TMS and Load Boards
A TMS is part of a company’s overall IT ecosystem. It must be smoothly integrated into other systems (internal and external) to ensure precise data interchange for efficient and smooth operation. Transport Management System is not just a stand-alone internal software that the logistics team manages. Instead, it is a connected system to both internal and external systems and databases. The TMS helps lower friction by bringing transparency to all supply chain activities, enhancing the customer experience.
The best TMS systems integrate into industry databases to enhance everyday operational tasks and connect to the ever-expanding databases, improving the customer experience and the capacity to control the flow of products through the supply chain. 3PLs and owner-operators may use load boards and freight marketplaces to keep their vehicles at maximum utilization. These load boards add tremendous value to the supply chain when integrated with TMS.
Removing Non-Value-Adding Activities (NVAs)
TMS and Load Board integrations help remove a lot of NVAs, like manual documentation and approvals, and also helps save costs. For example, the non-value adding steps such as freight request-for-quote (RFQ) will no longer be based on a random flat rate or a budget but instead on what other companies are charging for the exact freight route. Finance and logistics teams may optimize the company’s cost and capacity equation performance by utilizing live market databases. Some businesses work with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider-managed transportation service to lower their software investment needs and accelerate their ascent up the TMS curve.
Reducing Logistics Complexities
Today, so many load boards are available on the market. Although each load board is unique, most charge clients a fee, with more expensive plans having access to additional features. While shippers frequently develop private portals, most are created with brokers and carriers in mind. Some load boards offer integrated Freight Bill Factoring for shipments booked through the platform, but they are free for carriers to use. Each load board provides a unique membership plan, with separate tools, logins, and passwords, similar to most web-based businesses. To book freight, many users use multiple load boards. This tactic can lead to misunderstandings and is ineffective because consumers waste time searching via numerous sources. This is where the integration of load boards with TMS provides great optimization opportunities. The complexities of different load boards can be minimized through standardizations via TMS.
If you are looking for great Collaborative TMS solutions that integrate easily, Turvo is the right partner. Turvo provides the world’s leading Collaborative TMS application designed for the supply chain. Turvo connects people and organizations, allowing shippers, logistics providers, and carriers to unite their supply chains, deliver outstanding customer experiences, collaborate in real-time, and accelerate growth. The technology unifies all systems, internal and external, providing one end-to-end solution to execute all operations and analytics while eliminating redundant manual tasks and automating business processes. Turvo’s customers include some of the world’s most considerable Fortune 500 logistics service providers, shippers, and freight brokers. Turvo is based in the San Francisco Bay Area with offices in Dallas, Texas, and Hyderabad, India.
