Trimble has introduced a host of new logistics management systems for its TMW.Suite, TruckMate and IES Transportation Management System (TMS) solutions, designed to create efficiencies and streamline operations for carriers, brokers and third-party logistics providers. The new products were introduced at the company’s its 2019 in.sight user conference + expo, in Houston, Texas.

“Trimble’s focus is to continue building on our dynamic TMS solutions to provide additional value to customers,” said James Langley, senior vice president of Trimble’s Transportation Sector, in a press release. “These enhancements and upgrades will allow customers to do even more with their data, including maximizing resource utilization, retaining drivers and creating efficiencies.”

New Trimble enhancements, which span multiple TMS solutions, include:

• Reveal with Power BI: Trimble’s transportation-specific business analytics platform is now powered by a Microsoft Power BI front end. The Power BI front end provides increased flexibility as well as powerful data visualization and reporting, giving users increased capabilities to take advantage of Trimble’s database optimization and transportation focused extract-transform-load (ETL) capabilities for data warehousing. Reveal’s dimensional data model is virtually plug-and-play with other major business intelligence applications as well. Reveal is available for all Trimble TMS products and TMT SQL products.

• D2Link 3.0: Trimble’s D2Link mobile data solution, which combines the reliability of a fixed in-cab platform with the flexibility and convenience of a smartphone, has been enhanced to offer mobile imaging and is now available for both Android and iOS devices. D2Link benefits include increased communication with drivers, signature capture and new forms and workflows. In addition to being available for use with all Trimble TMS solutions, D2Link is also available for use with Trimble Oil & Gas Services solutions.

• Driver Analytics and Retention: A predictive analytics module uses TMS and telematics data to identify a fleet’s drivers who are most likely to voluntarily leave the company within the next 28 days, and provides customized recommended actions to help carriers proactively work to retain those drivers. This capability is available for use with Innovative IES, TMW.Suite and TruckMate.

Trimble also debuted several product-specific enhancements uniquely available for TMW.Suite, TruckMate or Innovative IES.

Risk Management is a Software-as-a-Service-based tool that combines key TMS and telematics risk and safety data such as incidents, accidents, claims, violations, speeding citations and other elements to provide a holistic view of a fleet’s risk and safety factors. With this tool, TMW.Suite customers can use this data to make more informed and actionable safety decisions, as well as form long-term driver coaching and education plans.

Container IQ is a new cloud-based module that allows carriers to track containers in near-real time within TruckMate. Container IQ gives intermodal carriers integrated visibility to location and status of container availability when transported by railroad. It also provides enhanced load security and improved customer service through accurate reporting and tracking of containers.

EDI Compare: As companies receive an increasing number of updates from shippers, many are seeing an increase in the amount of manual administrative work needed to compare orders. An Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) add-on module for TruckMate allows customers to compare EDI-tendered loads and automate changes within set thresholds such as time or quantity – streamlining operations and removing tedious manual work for staff.

Trimble Freight Link: This new TruckMate module allows carriers to accurately provide dispatch information to third parties, such as owner-operators or 3PLs, while receiving updated information including GPS and load update information from those organizations. The module enables carriers to maintain accurate records for customer service, while also allowing third parties to self-manage their loads, which enables the separation of the carrier from third-party carriers occasionally required for legal purposes.

Trimble’s Premium version of the Visibility platform provides carriers with enhanced options for visibility into their operations featuring a secure, real-time information platform.

Its features include integrations to non-Trimble TMS solutions, dynamic ETAs, proactive weather and risk alerts, rich data down to the SKU level, temperature control tracking, exception management and final mile functionalities, efficient workflow automation, and the same user-friendly interface as the basic version.

Enhancements to modules within the Innovative IES platform include:

• Lane Commitment Module: This cloud-based, multi-tenant solution allows companies to specify contract commitments and lane preferences. Preferences are used to automatically accept or reject load tenders, limiting manual intervention in managing inbound loads. The solution also presents lane commitment data to TMS users, allowing them to monitor contract commitments as orders are created.

• Innovative Brokerage: Newly consolidated brokerage user-interface screens allow for easy access and management of brokered loads and provide users with a streamlined ability to sort, filter and search, while also adding drag-and-drop functionality to the brokerage process in Innovative. Users can also track the progress of loads through stages and harness built-in printing of negotiation letters to improve the customer experience.

• Agricultural Zone Billing: A solution that provides accurate billing and carrier payment for logistics operations ise utilize a zone-based approach to billing when hauling freight, such as milk plants working with a co-op. While the origins of this product are in agriculture, this module will also work in a variety of zone-based billing circumstances.

'Carriers should have access to the same data as third-party tracking services.'

Trimble also announced that many of its carrier customers now have complimentary access to a selection of key tools found in its industry-leading Visibility platform.

This new version of the Visibility solution uses data pulled in from Trimble’s Transportation Management System and Mobility solutions to give carriers access to real-time freight tracking information. This complimentary version is available for customers using a combination of Trimble Mobility solutions and any of the following Trimble TMS platforms: Innovative, TMW.Suite and TruckMate.

According to Trimble, users will be able to view, track and better manage their customers’ shipments through Visibility. The platform also enables users to individually share tracking views with customers via hyperlinks and text messages, which the company said will take the guesswork out of proactive communications with shippers and managing exceptions for operations and sales teams.

“By introducing this complimentary version of Trimble Visibility for our customers, we are providing our users with a platform to improve freight visibility and enhance how they serve their customers,” said Bryan Coyne, general manager of Visibility for Trimble Transportation. “We believe carriers should have access to the same data as third-party tracking services.”

Connecting shippers, carriers, service providers

Trimble also launched a set of capabilities for shippers, carriers and service providers that delivers connectivity to Trimble’s transportation ecosystem of applications and solutions. Through these capabilities, customers can securely exchange data and information through a unified user experience.

“With the profound amount of data being shared between entities in the transportation industry, it’s more important than ever to be vigilant and proactive about secure data-sharing practices,” said Mark Botticelli, chief technology officer for Trimble Transportation. “Our new set of capabilities not only protects customer data, but it provides unmatched visibility into this data to inform decidedly better decisions.”

These new solutions include:

● Trust Center, a secure and centralized location for controlling data access allowed to visibility providers. Using Trust Center, Trimble’s carrier customers can know which visibility providers will receive their data and which data they’ll receive, empowering carriers to directly manage their data sharing to partners, integration by integration, down to the truck or shipper within a specific time frame.

● Market Insights, a key analysis tool that enables Trimble customers to view aggregated industry level pricing and transit time data. Designed to take the guesswork out of pricing, Market Insights enables carriers to create more accurate, market-based prices for their routes.

● Developer Network, a unified location for documentation and code samples, the Developer Network enables customers and third-party visibility providers to use standardized automatic programming interfaces (APIs) for integrations with Trimble Transportation Management System and Mobility platforms. This network will also provide details allowing partners to understand what configurations are possible and provide users with a more efficient method of maintaining system-to-system integrations, both to Trimble and non-Trimble business systems.

“We are committed to helping our customers exchange data and information in a clear, concise and singular way,” said Botticelli. “This dynamic new technology gives customers control of their data to provide visibility into freight movements as well as uncover deep data insights to help them run their businesses more efficiently.”