Technology in the Evolving LTL Supply Chain

Every few years, a technology solution captivates the industry, sweeping supply chain participants toward new tools that promise to streamline processes and vastly improve business. How do industry participants separate the noise from truly revolutionary products?
The industry is currently abuzz with new developments in application program interface communications.

While it’s true that customers need to be examining what these lightweight APIs mean for their businesses, they also should carefully sort through the hype to truly understand the value propositions of the companies offering these new tools. 

Will communication technology continue to evolve, or are APIs the new communication standard?
We share information today via API standards, but as technology continues to progress, it is important to keep innovation at the forefront.

We are constantly examining how to effectively use cloud technologies, reaching beyond the newer APIs to prepare for communication decades into the future.

Currently, lightweight API capabilities represent a new way to increase communication throughout the industry. To take a holistic approach, technology providers must also not reject pervasive industry communication standards because they might be seen as outdated.

Companies that offer customers a solution for both current forms of messaging will rise to the top by standardizing these tools while providing value-added features that help their customers make better transportation decisions.

Where does SMC³ fit into this changing world?
At SMC³, we’re working to streamline complex processes to save customers time and money, but I also see part of our mission as working for the overall good of the supply chain.

With the SMC³ Platform, we’re able to constantly adapt to shifting demands, evolving as the supply chain shifts and grows. As an impartial third party, SMC³ works to develop solutions that aid all members of the supply chain.

While LTL rating capabilities expand as technology allows and shippers are able to connect directly to carriers via APIs, are rating benchmarks like SMC³’s CzarLite XL still important?
A rating benchmark is a fundamental tool that shippers utilize to effectively manage LTL transportation.

Benchmark rates give shippers greater visibility into competitively based, market-specific rates, providing them the confidence that they are securing the best rates rather than carrier-specific rates, which are often not competitive in all lanes.

Ultimately, our benchmark rates create a more efficient market for carriers, shippers and 3PLs alike.

CzarLite XL is a 21st century base rate; it’s the most modern iteration of the LTL rating solution that has been SMC³’s most popular offering for decades.

For too long, shippers operating inside Mexico have lacked a trusted benchmark that lets them accurately measure carrier rates from point-to-point within the country, so the latest expansion of the CzarLite family is MexicoLite Intra, a benchmarking product for LTL shipments within Mexico.

Related Resources

The Single Source for LTL Pricing & Transit Information
The SMC³ Platform empowers 3PLs and Shippers of any size to successfully navigate and optimize the LTL shipment arena, choose the level of computing power based on your specific needs and operating environment with a technology platform offering the best of all worlds. Download Now!

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Exploring the Future of LTL Pricing
SMC³ commissioned an in-depth study by Auburn University called “Synergic Pricing in the LTL Industry” to explore how post-deregulation changes are affecting the U.S. transportation industry, less-than-truckload (LTL) pricing and the LTL industry’s future. Download Now!