Kuebix expands TMS with additional rate options

Transportation management system (TMS) provider Kuebix said Tuesday it had launched a service that lets its users gain access to additional truckload rates and freight options, helping shippers conduct business in a historically tight market for capacity.

Maynard, Mass.-based Kuebix said its Community Load Match tool allows its users to access a large ecosystem of truckload carriers and brokers, in order to get spot quotes for truckload shipments.

This new feature brings the process of finding and booking truckload spot quotes within the TMS, alongside the software's existing functionality of rating, booking, and tracking shipments for the full spectrum of modes, including truckload, less than truckload (LTL), parcel, intermodal, and others, the company said in an email.

"The capacity crunch and driver shortage make finding available truckload capacity difficult, not to mention more expensive," Kuebix Founder and President Dan Clark said in a statement. The Community Load Match increases the available options for shippers, helping them ensure that all truckload moves are covered by the optimal carrier, Clark said.

The tool allows TMS users to leverage the community of Kuebix-approved brokers to supplement their existing capacity with reliable alternatives, according to the company. Kuebix keeps a list of brokers that have established a relationship with the company and will bid on users' opportunities, generating capacity from truckload carriers such as: Show Me Logistics, Axle Logistics, Johanson Tran Services, VP Logistics, Trans-Link, McClain & Associates, and Circle Logistics, the company said in an email.

Kuebix is releasing the Community Load Match tool now because truckload capacity is at an all-time premium, making companies struggle to retain the current rates they have, let alone add capacity as their businesses grow in the strong economic environment, the company said in a blog post. At the same time, shippers incur high labor costs when they dedicate employees to calling brokers and carriers to book freight. Kuebix says its new tool balances those demands by offering its users a free service that lets any size company with truckload freight to ship find more capacity and get better pricing, the firm said in the post.