FourKites and 3GTMS team up for strategic partnership

Earlier this week, two supply chain and logistics technology providers–FourKites, a provider of real-time tracking and visibility solutions across transportation modes and digital platforms, and 3GTMS, a provider of Tier 1 transportation management software, said they are collaborating “to enhance processes” for 3PLs and shippers.

The companies said this partnership will mesh FourKites’ visibility platform with 3GTMS software. And they explained that with FourKites’ technology used to gather shipment and status and location from more than 4 million GPS/ELD tracking devices and driver cell phones in real-time, coupled with 3GTMS’s technology , this results in its customers receiving shipment visibility capabilities through location and ETA information every 15 minutes, along with things like predictive weather and traffic information in order to assess their impact on travel times.

A FourKites’ spokesperson told LM that Shippers and 3PLs' need for more accurate real-time, truck specific ETAs drove the need for this partnership. 

“Both strategic alliance partners' customers and prospects required rapid yet robust seamless integration. 3GTMS and FourKites' agile development framework and simple but powerful APIs allowed for a very quick completion of this comprehensive functionality,” she said. “The work was executed in less than 2 months. 3GTMS selected FourKites as their recommended multi-modal load tracking and exception management solution. The accuracy and integrity of truck-specific ETAs and mapping versus automobile-based estimates was a key requirement.”

This partnership explained the spokesperson, brings, FourKites’ automated prioritization to supply chain execution teams using the 3GTMS platform, enabling them to focus on mitigating downstream repercussions of late shipments, instead of making checks calls and manually sifting through thousands of shipments each day, searching for those running behind. And as a result, 3GTMS customers using FourKites can improve on-time delivery of finished goods to customers while driving operational efficiencies in plants and distribution centers.

“In the past, freight could be delayed by traffic, weather and other factors and would send updates that were hours late,” said J.P. Wiggins, vice president of logistics at 3GTMS, in a statement. “Now, shippers expect to know where their freight is in real time. By partnering with FourKites, 3GTMS can provide its customers and their clients with immediate tracking capabilities, making it easier to track and manage freight shipping exceptions, if not prevent them in the first place.”