BY MARK B. SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR – NEWS
FREIGHT RATING SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
IT MAY SEEM A MISNOMER TO LABEL A $35 BILLION-A-YEAR INDUSTRY
a “niche market.” Yet that’s how companies that provide freight rating software
and services describe their business. It is a specialized, albeit mature, field populated by relatively few vendors. As freight users across all modes seek to maximize
their shipping spend in an environment of tight carrier capacity and rate increases, rate comparison tools and the companies that develop them have become
increasingly important.
The basic function of freight rating software is to match a user’s shipping and
freight characteristics with a carrier’s price and service offerings, enabling shippers
and third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) to conveniently shop around for
the best rates from multiple carriers. Freight rating tools are designed to optimize
the headhaul and backhaul components of a shipper’s network, and deliver the
analytics that shippers need during lane-by-lane rate negotiations with their carriers. “There is a bit of work involved on the shipper’s part, but anyone trying to
hold the line on freight expenses should certainly investigate its use,” said James
A. Cooke, principal analyst at Nucleus Research Inc., a research firm.
Most vendors specialize in a certain mode. For example, Kewill, a U.K. firm
with U.S. headquarters in Chelmsford, Mass., is particularly visible in parcel. DAT
Solutions, based in Portland, Ore., has a strong presence in the truckload space.
Peachtree City, Ga.-based SMC3, which has developed a rating product called
“Rate Ware,” focuses on the less-than-truckload (LTL) market.
Madison, Wis.-based RateLinx touts its software, called “ShipLinx,” as mode-ag-nostic, meaning it doesn’t try to shoehorn a user into a particular mode. In the
company’s view, situations arise when the traditional weight “breaks” that often
determine modal choice don’t apply, and a shipper whose load might seem best
suited to parcel shipment could actually fetch a better rate moving via LTL.
ShipLinx will identify those anomalies and suggest ways a shipper can better
leverage its transportation spend, said Shannon Vaillancourt, RateLinx’s founder
technologyreview
Freight-rating
software has become
an indispensable tool
for shippers and
3PLs in a capacity-constrained world. But
choosing the right
system is more than
just a matter of price.
What to look for in a
freight rating system
