Online truck brokerage Convoy has launched a feature in its transportation management system (TMS) that allows shippers to access real-time data on carrier performance, and thus centralize their routing guides and cut tendering time in half, the firm said today.

Seattle-based Convoy added the feature called “Carrier Insights” to its Convoy Connect TMS platform, saying it enables transportation managers to award freight to carriers based on real-time visibility into shipment volume, spend, response rate, acceptance rate, and average response time.

According to Convoy, that is significant because supply chain professionals have traditionally relied on incomplete information to determine how they allocate freight to their carriers. Even when they collect it, important data points such as tender acceptance and response rates are often provided by individual carriers in different formats, at different intervals, and with varying levels of precision, Convoy said.

“As a result, shippers don’t have a consistent, accurate way to measure and compare the performance of their carriers. This leads to freight allocation based on anecdotes and memory rather than on quantitative data,” the company said in a release.

“Many of the shippers we speak with use email and spreadsheets to manage their freight,” Michael Lu, Convoy’s director of product, said in a release.  “As a result, they lack data to determine whether they’re working with the most reliable carriers with the highest service levels. With Carrier Insights, shippers now have the data they need to make informed decisions about which carriers to trust with their freight.”

The launch follows yesterday’s move by supply chain visibility provider FourKites to publish its “Premier Carrier List” for the first quarter of 2020. That list includes 234 brokers, carriers and third party logistics providers (3PLs) that FourKites testifies have achieved the highest standards of operational excellence, as demonstrated by their ability to provide high-quality, consistent, accurate data on the vast majority of their loads.

“The carriers on FourKites Premier Carrier List are providing their shipper customers and the broader supply chain ecosystem with data that is indispensable – in normal times, but especially now – to streamlining operations, increasing the speed of shipping dock turn times, reducing inventory levels and better managing labor costs,” FourKites said in a release. “For these shippers, accurate and real-time visibility data is critical to meeting unprecedented demand, driving a consistent customer service experience, and reducing order lead times.”

Shippers, is your routing guide strategy working?

With Carrier Insights in Convoy Connect TMS, you now have the data to understand carrier response rate, acceptance rate, and response time!

Save time and money: https://t.co/5eYnrGA3y6 pic.twitter.com/WUqTBBWlzI

— Convoy Team (@convoyteam) April 15, 2020