Trimble Recognized as 2021 FreightTech 100 Winner
Each year, industry outlet FreightWaves’ FreightTech 100 Awards recognizes companies in transportation and logistics that are contributing to innovation and disruption within the freight industry.
Recently, FreightWaves announced the 2021 recipients of this award and Trimble was honored to be among the recipients. Winners were chosen based on nominations from FreightWaves readers. For the 2021 awards, FreightWaves readers submitted more than 500 nominations for more than 200 unique companies
“We choose the FreightTech 100 based solely on merit. These companies are shaking up the industry in new and exciting ways. This is not a ‘pay-to-play’ competition,” FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller said in a recent FreightWaves article announcing the 2021 winners. “We want to recognize the most innovative and disruptive companies out there.”
FreightTech 100 Award winners will be narrowed down to select the FreightTech 25, who are chosen by a hand-picked peer group of CEOs, industry leaders and investors actively investing in freight. Winners will be announced during the FreightWaves LIVE@HOME event, held virtually November 5-6, 2020.
The Importance of Achieving a Connected Supply Chain
In terms of innovation and disruption within the industry, the value of data continues to grow and there is an increasing demand to connect the dots between the data and improve collaboration between logistics service providers and shippers, carriers and intermediaries.
Today, shippers, carriers and intermediaries operate with fragmented transportation management system (TMS) software. Trimble’s vision is to transform the transportation industry by breaking down silos of information between shippers, carriers and intermediaries, and improve collaboration by delivering one, single logistics platform for everyone in the supply chain.
This trend has only accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has required even more focus on identifying ways to optimize operations, increase efficiencies and facilitate collaboration with all supply chain stakeholders.
James Langley, senior vice president of Trimble Transportation, recently echoed this sentiment during Trimble’s in.sight user conference and expo.
“Our new reality is that we’re doing business together differently. We all understand, respect and appreciate how the trucking industry never stopped, never slept, and continued to carry on, making sure all of our stores and shelves were supplied with the things we need every day.”
To that end, Langley added that Trimble wants “to create a global, seamless and transparent supply chain.”
Taking Tangible Steps to Connect the Supply Chain
To realize this vision for the future of the connected supply chain, Trimble started 2020 off by announcing its acquisition of Kuebix, a leading TMS provider and creator of North America’s largest connected shipping community.
The acquisition connected Kuebix shippers with Trimble’s carrier network through a single platform, bringing two of the largest shipper-carrier ecosystems in North America together. Kuebix integrates with Trimble’s Innovative, TMW.Suite and TruckMate carrier transportation management systems (TMS), allowing shipment data to seamlessly flow between systems.
Just four months after this acquisition, Trimble and Kuebix reached their first milestone in achieving this vision through the launch of enhancements to the Community Load Match platform. The Community Load Match platform connects shippers with a carrier community from Trimble’s network of 1.3 million commercial trucks, digital freight matching services and brokers to meet truckload needs on a single platform.
With Community Load Match, shippers can harness advanced matching capabilities to identify carriers for their truckload shipments and leverage improved map visualization through Trimble MAPS. Shippers can easily request and receive rates from carriers, including their contracted carriers. Kuebix also offers shippers complimentary rate assessments leveraging community carriers to optimize logistics operations and source new capacity.
For carriers, the capabilities of Community Load Match give them direct access to Kuebix’s community of more than 24,000 shippers to pair available truckload capacity with matching shipment requirements. Kuebix’s shipping community is composed almost entirely of direct shippers and manufacturers, resulting in a high-quality source of freight for carriers. Carriers can also leverage Community Load Match to designate preferred lanes to help ensure that they connect with shippers with requirements in lanes they want to fill.
Dan Clark, Trimble’s vice president of product innovation & strategy summed it up recently. “When all players in the logistics supply chain work together, everyone wins. By bringing together Trimble’s massive network of carriers with one of the industry’s largest networks of shippers, there are unprecedented possibilities to foster direct connections that improve efficiencies for all.”
Continued Innovation and Disruption Through Technology
The end goal for Trimble’s supply chain vision is to provide carriers with 100 percent resource utilization of our carriers while also giving shippers 100 percent freight coverage at the right price. Achieving this goal will come through further technology innovation, backed by Trimble’s more than four decades in transforming how the world works, including within the transportation supply chain.
“We are committed to this business. We know the industry lacks visibility, data integration and collaboration – this is the work we do at Trimble,” Trimble CEO Rob Painter recently said at in.sight. “We believe in our ability to transform the way the supply chain works today, and unlock value for you and for your customers.”
Interested in learning more about how Trimble can help you operate more effectively and better connect with all parts of the transportation ecosystem? Contact us to discover how our solutions are built to help you maximize efficiencies and improve collaboration across your supply chain.