Drawn from interviews with the largest 3PLs, as well as smaller technology leaders, the report explains in detail how and why increased freight visibility is creating significant value in today’s turbulent business landscape, and how 3PLs are answering shipper demand for more sophisticated, nuanced visibility.

“Visibility is at the forefront of what we do as third-party logistics companies,” said TIA President and CEO Robert Voltmann. “We are the supply chain’s natural technology leaders because we are closest to our customer’s freight, data, and increasingly, their real-time decisions.”

The report highlights complex issues around visibility for shippers – including understanding what kind of data they should ask for and how they should use it. Meanwhile, 3PL challenges included finding ways to guide shipper technology decisions to yield the most effective data points for their supply chain.

Key Points:

3PLs are investing heavily in technology to deliver business intelligence:

• The array of delivery options that allow 3PLs to customize the data they provide to shippers has expanded.
• Significant advances in visibility technologies have created a wide range of perceptions and expectations among shippers, including some that are inaccurate.
• 3PLs continue to focus their technology on customers’ visibility needs amid an explosion of available data.
• Every 3PL participating in this report underscored a commitment to providing substantial financial resources to support visibility.
• In a dynamic market, 3PLs are capturing the opportunity to deliver business intelligence.
• The future challenge will be to find optimal and flexible methods to sustain substantial advances already made.

Watch the accompanying video discussing highlights from the Freight Visibility Report:

The report contributors include executives representing: Intelligent Logistics, L&M Transportation Services, InTek Freight & Logistics, project44, England Logistics, Blue Grace Group, Coyote Logistics, Sunteck TTS, NFI Industries, Total Quality Logistics, DRT Transportation, RLS Logistics, Allen Lund Company, Echo Global Logistics, Mullett Strategies, Covenant Transport Solutions, 10-4 Systems, Tucker Company Worldwide, Choptank Transport and Schneider Logistics Services. The 2018 Visibility Report is sponsored by technology companies project44 and 10-4 Systems.

For additional questions, contact Chris Burroughs, Senior Director of Government Affairs, at burroughs@tianet.org or 703.299.5705.

The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) is the professional organization of the $185.7 billion third-party logistics industry. TIA is the only organization exclusively representing transportation intermediaries of all disciplines, doing business in domestic and international commerce. TIA is the voice of the 3PL industry to shippers, carriers, government officials and international organizations. TIA is the United States member of the International Federation of Freight Forwarder Associations, FIATA.

project44 enables you to deliver stronger value to your customers, through the power of information. The smartest and most efficient shipping experiences require full visibility into pricing, routes, pickups, tracking, documents, and payments. project44 provides the industry’s only true end-to-end visibility solution that goes beyond just tracking — giving you more control over your supply chain with instant, all-inclusive digital connectivity to the largest network of multimodal transportation providers and partners.

10-4 Systems, a Trimble Company, is a leading global supply chain visibility provider featuring a secure, multimodal, real-time information platform that offers direct TMS integrations, dynamic ETAs, proactive weather and risk alerts, rich data down to the SKU level, temperature control tracking, exception management & final mile functionalities, efficient workflow automation, and a world-class, user-friendly interface.