Real-time volume LTL tool helps shippers secure capacity

ATLANTA - In an expansion of its best-in-class suite of LTL freight rating tools, SMC³ has unveiled a direct-to-carrier volume LTL pricing API solution delivered through the secure, reliable SMC³ Platform. The API can be used in conjunction with SMC³’s RateWare XL contract rating tool.

SMC³’s continuous innovation and authority in LTL rating solutions is the result of decades of expertise in the transportation arena. As the leaders in LTL rating, SMC³, which handles 40 million transactions each day, is the most-trusted provider of LTL freight APIs and analytical transportation tools. The company unveiled its volume pricing API to satisfy customer demand; spot pricing is increasingly relevant in today’s transportation environment due to tight market capacity.  

Supply chain stakeholders use volume pricing rates when they need a spot quote for shipments that don’t fit within traditional LTL or truckload parameters. By using this service, customers pay the going rate for the space their freight actually uses, not a previously agreed upon LTL contract price. This volume LTL freight can move on a carrier’s backhaul or chronic empty lanes (a benefit for the carriers) and is priced at spot-market rates, which can save shippers money. Volume LTL can be looked at as a mutually beneficial arrangement among shippers and carriers.

SMC³’s volume pricing solution is a RESTful API that was built with an eye toward extremely easy and fast integration into transportation management systems. New customers average only one week of integration time.

According to Jon Adams, vice president of LTL solutions for R2 Logistics, “Like all its products, SMC³’s volume LTL API is easy to integrate and easy to use. Most important, it drives out manual processes and makes our operation more efficient.”

The volume LTL pricing API is the newest tool in the company’s ever-growing collection of Execution and Visibility APIs – tools that are tailored for efficient, fast and powerful direct-to-carrier communications. By automating the volume pricing process through SMC³’s newest API, customers can reduce the likelihood for rating errors and remove inefficiencies from the process.

“In the shifting supply chain arena, shippers and 3PLs that use our volume LTL pricing API in conjunction with RateWare XL can guarantee they always receive the best possible rate for their freight moves,” said Brian Thompson, chief commercial officer of SMC³. “As the leaders in LTL rating, our goal is to arm our customers with the knowledge they need to optimize their LTL decisions.”