New TMS Provider Takes LTL-Specific Challenges Head-On

From surging demand to constrained capacity, shippers have faced serious headwinds the past couple of years. Rates have skyrocketed, shortages have plagued almost every sector and consumer demands have strengthened. On top of all that, LTL shippers have faced new carrier limits, adding more stress to their already-taxed supply chains.

Many LTL carriers have lowered caps from 16 linear feet to 12 linear feet, either denying freight that exceeds those limits or instituting punitive pricing measures that make moving it unaffordable. These new limits and pricing structures can lead to delayed shipments, volatile pricing and unpredictable service. This often leads to unsatisfied end consumers and pressure on the shipper's bottom line.

Despite LTL's reputation as more tech-savvy than its truckload counterparts, there are limited TMS solutions tailored to LTL movements. While many truckload-first solutions include LTL tools, most are not equipped to meet the dynamic needs of LTL shippers in today's challenging freight environment.

CabotageTMS prides itself on being a technology company built exclusively by a shipper for a shipper. The company is spearheaded by logistics professionals who know firsthand what shippers need out of a TMS. The CabotageTMS team knows this new API-driven TMS works because they created it to meet their own needs first. Throughout the nearly three years of development, they tried every step along the way to "stump the programmer," which is to say their voice of user approach followed a "if you want it, we will build it" mentality. 

"From commodity types to dimensions, the shipments we handled within the LTL market are so diverse," CabotageTMS President Grant Crawford said. "Our journey really started when we determined the out-of-the-box TMS solution we were using to manage our parent company (a wire and cable manufacturer) simply wasn't meeting our needs anymore. The initial plan wasn't to ‘productize' it. That came later, after we started to realize what we were building was going to be a bit of a unicorn. We knew we weren't the only ones who were exhausted of the status quo. Ultimately, we wanted others to enjoy the fruits of our labor." 

CabotageTMS takes care of a shipment from beginning to end. It enables shippers to save time and money by aggregating real-time LTL shipping quotes from pricing agreements with their direct carrier relationships in one place, supplemented by exclusive access to top LTL carrier rates from Priority1 Logistics. Access to additional LTL capacity in the current macro-market can't be understated and offers shippers additional outlets for their shipments. Once a shipment is booked, Cabotage offers real-time tracking, providing an average of 15 updates per shipment. 

Variances are infamous in the LTL world. Typically, variances come about thanks to inaccurate quotes on the front end. CabotageTMS helps shippers avoid variances by enforcing dimensions and automatically adding excessive length accessorials when indicated. This approach arms carriers with the information needed to provide accurate quotes and eliminates the uncertainty that often plagues LTL movements. 

"CabotageTMS provides our users with two things that are really important in this environment: carrier capacity and accurate quotes," said Phillip Scholtes, CabotageTMS vice president of technology. "By requiring dimensions, the TMS automatically tabulates what your rate is going to be. As long as your dimensions are accurate, your quotes will be nearly flawless." 

In addition to accurate quotes, CabotageTMS offers shippers access to dozens of superior API LTL carriers. Capacity has been severely strained all year, and demand is expected to outpace supply well into 2022. Shippers should expect to face more of the same — high rates and tight capacity — for at least the next several months, making this elevated access to carriers invaluable.

Click here to learn more about how CabotageTMS is changing the LTL TMS world.

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