Project44, a software company whose technology is designed to boost the speed and performance of Transportation Management Systems (TMS), said yesterday it has named C. Thomas Barnes, former president of less-than-truckload (LTL) services at freight broker Coyote Logistics LLC, president of the firm.

Barnes resigned from Coyote last week, less than five months after the Chicago-based broker was acquired at the end of July by UPS Inc. for $1.8 billion. Barnes joined Coyote in October 2014 to build its LTL operation. Coyote, like most brokers, primarily focuses on the truckload market. However, brokers have been increasingly eyeing the LTL arena as a way of broadening their service options to customers and of creating new channels of revenue for themselves.

For four years prior to joining Coyote, Barnes was president of Con-way Multimodal, the brokerage unit of the former Con-way Inc., which was acquired in September for $3 billion by third-party logistics provider XPO Logistics Inc. Barnes has served on Chicago-based project44's advisory board since 2014.

"Adding Tommy to the project44 executive team is a strategic move, as he's fulfilled integral roles at leading transportation companies like Coyote and Con-way," said Wally Ibrahim, CTO and cofounder of project44, in a statement. "Tommy brings a wealth of industry experience and extensive leadership to the table, which will propel project44's technology services throughout the industry."

Project 44 said its software will dramatically improve the speed of data exchanges among shippers, LTL carriers, and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) compared with the technology the industry has used for decades. Project 44 said its "middleware," which support TMS, will allow users to obtain rate information faster and more accurately than the traditional electronic data interchange model that has been in use for 67 years.

Project44 executives said its platform functions in a manner similar to the engines that support online travel booking sites like Kayak and Travelocity.