INDIANAPOLIS -- FTR and Internet Truckstop announced a new strategic partnership to bring FTR's analysis and forecasting skills to bear on the "big data" collected by the freight-matching technology provider.

The new alliance will offer market analysis of both contract and spot freight segments by region and by trailer type. FTR will analyze the millions of load transactions gathered by Internet Truckstop to offer a picture of the current balance of supply and demand between locations. Using these new tools, carrier and shipper planners will be able to base forecasts on conditions for all truck types and all regions.

"One of the challenges has been that the world of trucking, especially truckload, is dispersed, fragmented and difficult to understand," explained FTR Partner Larry Gross. That's one of the reasons FTR was founded.

However, customers have been asking for some information that FTR was struggling to provide. Tapping into Big Data was the answer.

"Internet Truckstop has opened up a new window of visibility for us," Gross said. "They are generating huge quantities of data on what's happening in terms of demand, and region-to-region demand."

The plan is that FTR will be able to analyze, understand and forecast based on this data that Internet Truckstop hasn't been able to do before.

Peter Vomocil, Internet Truckstop vice president of marketing, admitted that "we have more data than we know what to do with. Big data by itself is simply data. Big data with insights results in actionable information."

Over the next few months, FTR and Internet Truckstop will start rolling out products based on this new collaboration. They will provide planning and forecasting products with four benefits to subscribers:

• Timely regional data for capacity and demand

• Access to combined contract and spot market data

• Simplified planning with advanced analytics on spot market economics

• Spot market forecasts

The two companies made the announcement at the opening of FTR's Annual Transportation Conference in Indianapolis.