Freight-pricing software firm SMC³ Inc. today said it has partnered with transportation management system (TMS) vendor MercuryGate International Inc. to launch a software tool that provides less-than-truckload (LTL) pricing data more quickly and efficiently than was previously possible.

Peachtree City, Ga.-based SMC³'s new application programming interface (API) allows Cary, N.C.-based MercuryGate's TMS users to access a direct-to-carrier contract pricing solution, SMC³ said.

The contract pricing API gives shippers, third-party logistics providers (3PLs), and other MercuryGate users direct access to their negotiated contract pricing, including accessorial charges, for multiple LTL carriers from within MercuryGate's TMS, according to the company.

MercuryGate customers also now have access to the SMC³ imaging API, which provides users with a range of shipping documents in real time during each shipment's journey through the supply chain, SMC³ said.

APIs such as the new tool from SMC³ and from supply chain software vendors like Chicago-based project44 can dramatically improve the speed of data exchanges among shippers, LTL carriers, and 3PLs compared with the traditional electronic data interchange (EDI) model the industry has used for decades.