Partnering with a 3PL provides shippers with a litany of benefits. One of the biggest of these benefits, though, is that top 3PLs can provide access to industry-leading technology solutions, allowing shippers to enjoy the benefits of these solutions without having to purchase and master them themselves.
That said, it’s essential to choose a 3PL that can offer the right 3PL technology. To help you select a 3PL partner that will provide the perfect arsenal of cutting-edge solutions, let’s take a closer look at the tech stack that a 3PL needs to support shippers effectively.
There isn’t a single solution that provides all of the tools and features that a 3PL needs to assist shippers with logistics management. Instead, top 3PLs rely on a combination of technologies. Together, these technologies form what is known as a “tech stack.” A tech stack comprises individual solutions, but that doesn’t mean that these solutions don’t work together. Typically, the solutions in a 3PL’s tech stack will be connected via APIs to effortlessly communicate key data back and forth and integrate with one another to provide powerful new capabilities.
There are numerous different solutions that 3PLs leverage to ensure smooth, reliable, and efficient logistics operations for the shippers that they partner. Some of the most important solutions that every 3PL’s tech stack should offer include:
A high-quality Transportation Management System (TMS) is an invaluable asset in a 3PL’s pursuit of logistical optimization. With the right TMS, shippers can:
Through integration of Turvo’s industry-defining TMS, built specifically to meet the demands of a fast-paced global logistics marketplace, Zengistics is proud to leverage unprecedented operational efficiency on behalf of the shippers we partner with.
The carriers a shipper uses can have a major impact on the success of a supply chain, and it is essential to choose them carefully. Registry Monitoring Insurance Services (RMIS) allows 3PLS to automatically verify a potential carrier partner’s compliance and insurance documentation. Paired with a TMS, which allows shippers to score carriers based on factors such as on-time delivery rate, an RMIS can be a vital tool in carrier selection and risk mitigation. With an RMIS integrated into their tech-stack, 3PLs can forgo tedious insurance processes and know that they’re partnering only with reputable, compliant carriers.
Through the use of RMIS technology throughout our operations, Zengistics can guarantee that every carrier we partner with is insured, compliant, and prepared to serve our shipper partners.
The ability to track their freight’s real-time location and status provides shippers with several powerful advantages. For one, it allows them to quickly respond to shipping exceptions as they happen to prevent extended delays. The supply chain visibility provided by real-time freight tracking also empowers improved operational planning, better inventory management, higher customer satisfaction, and much more.
By utilizing Turvo TMS’s exceptional real-time freight tracking tools, Zengistics can ensure that our customers are always aware of where their freight is located, if and why it was delayed, and when it is expected to arrive.
When demand for transportation services is at an all-time high, securing freight capacity is now more challenging than ever before. Thankfully, digital freight matching tools can go a long way toward helping 3PLs secure spot truckload capacity for their customers.
Digital freight matching tools are web-based platforms that automatically match a shipper’s freight with available capacity from carriers. Rather than having to manually secure capacity for each load, these tools automate the process and enable 3PLs to find capacity for a customer’s freight simply by uploading the details of their load to the platform.
There’s more to a great 3PL than just the technology they utilize, but a 3PL’s tech stack can certainly play a big role in how effectively they can assist their customers. At Zengistics, we leverage a proven combination of TMS, RMIS, viability, and digital freight matching solutions to help shippers streamline their logistics operations and ensure success at every phase. If you want to learn more about Zengistics’ industry-leading tech stack or any of the other advantages of partnering with us, contact us today!
Operating on the world’s first collaborative logistics platform, Zengistics is a technology company that executes freight.