Seattle-based digital freight network Convoy and Cary, NC-based SaaS-enabled transportation management system (TMS) provider MercuryGate International Inc. heralded an expanded partnership earlier this week.
Convoy officials said that this initiative is focused on helping freight brokers on various fronts, including: automating the brokerage process, controlling costs, and accessing elastic capacity from more than 400,000 connected trucks via its Convoy for Brokers tool, which enables brokerages to post loads directly to its digital freight network, access its elastic capacity, and expand their carrier base while maintaining their relationships with shippers and carriers and ensuring the privacy of their data.
“Convoy’s mission is to transport the world with endless capacity and zero waste. The only way to achieve that mission is by partnering with other technology platforms and freight providers to share the benefits of a digital freight network,” said Brooks McMahon, Chief Business Development Officer at Convoy, in a statement. “With today’s announcement, we’re making it easier for MercuryGate’s broker community to source elastic capacity from our carrier network and make the brokering process more efficient.”
In an interview, McMahon said that Convoy has been working with MercuryGate since 2019 and there have been many advancements from both companies during that time.
“One of the keys that drove expanding our partnership now was our recent launch of the Convoy for Brokers program,” he said. “We realized that this would be a great way to extend flexible—or elastic, as well call it—capacity from Convoy’s network of more than 400,000 trucks to MercuryGate, its broker community, and ultimately shippers who’ll benefit from another source of high-quality capacity. It was also spurred by the opportunity to help make everything that goes into the brokering process more efficient for MercuryGates’ broker community.”
As for the main benefits of this partnership for Convoy customers, McMahon said that this partnership ultimately provides another way for shippers to benefit from a great additional source of high-quality capacity via their broker partners, who are now able to access the Convoy network via the MercuryGate platform.
Looking ahead, McMahon said that Convoy is going to continue working closely with the MercuryGate team to make additional benefits Convoy’s digital freight network available seamlessly through the MercuryGate TMS.
“Our goal is for shippers and brokers to be able to tap directly into our services within their everyday workflows and technology stack,” he added.
Jeffrey Varon, MercuryGate Chief Strategy Officer, said in a statement that MercuryGate is always looking for ways to provide its customers with more transportation capacity and real-time competitive rates.
“At the same time, we know that for them to grow sustainably, they need to digitize and automate manual processes across their business,” he said. “We are excited to expand our partnership with Convoy and provide our freight brokerage customers more tools to gain a competitive edge.”