The past year was a transformative year in freight transportation. With the impacts of tight driver and equipment capacity, freight rates were on the upper side of the equation. While these forces were in play, customers were demanding a higher level of service reliability. This caused shippers to place a greater importance on carriers with high transit time consistency, higher equipment availability, more flexibility and multi-modal capabilities. These requirements are only going to increase in 2016 and the winners would be the ones who take the help of technology to solve complex scenarios.

With the emergence of advanced freight management and transportation needs, many transport companies are looking to implement freight management systems to improve their delivery capabilities. An efficient freight management system allows fleet owners to plan for the current inventory and ensure warehouse efficiencies. It helps them in meeting the ever-growing demand for on-time delivery of products and raw materials.

Further, many business establishments are taking the advantage of the trade incentives and relaxation in regulations to expand their businesses beyond national boundaries. This triggers the demand for freight management systems that can update and track freight movements globally and ensure safe and on-time delivery.

Multiple other factors will also have its play in efficient freight management. For the truckload carriers, it will be making use of smart pricing and costing models that can aid in smarter management decisions on how and where to position assets. In addition, there will be more involvement of smartphone-enabled technologies that can provide dynamic, real-time load information sharing. The carriers that do not invest in these technologies will pick up the “bad freight” that they aren’t able to properly price and service effectively in their networks.

In a nutshell, the winning carriers and shippers will be the ones who align their processes, people and technology in more strategic ways to reduce costs and increase service efficiencies. This scenario calls for vendors that are more “solution providers” rather than pure transportation suppliers.

Our goal with this special edition on freight management is to help readers gain clear insights on what is happening in the sector. We also feature a list of prominent players who help the clients meet their freight management objectives with technology.