Indiana-based Circle Logistics is providing the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and groceries with real-time visibility of critical medical supplies and grocery shipments across the USA using MacroPoint from Canadian firm Descartes Systems.

“Our team is truly rallying in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis,” said Andrew Smith, vice president at Circle Logistics. “We’ve shifted our entire transportation network to manage a 700% increase in volume from customers moving critical freight, including personal protective equipment, respirators and cots for Fema and grocery loads for major brands. Descartes MacroPoint provides the visibility platform that our whole organisation can use to track the movement of these goods. Without it, pivoting business and moving our 12 offices to a work-from-home environment would have been much more challenging.”

The cloud-based MacroPoint real-time visibility product gives freight brokers, logistics service providers and shippers real-time location, status and estimated time of arrival of their loads. Companies such as Circle Logistics can more closely monitor and evaluate the real-time movement of all of their freight via one platform and take corrective action before any potential supply chain disruptions occur.

It can also be used by freight brokers for improved carrier sourcing and capacity matching, which are growing in importance given the volatility of today’s freight market.

“We’re pleased to support Circle Logistics on the frontlines of getting critical supplies to where they’re needed most,” said Dan Cicerchi, vice president at Descartes. “The transportation industry is facing extraordinary demands to keep all kinds of shipments moving. Logistics and supply chain technologies are playing a more critical role than ever to ensure the flow of goods happens quickly, efficiently and as transparently as possible.”

Circle Logistics was co-founded in 2011 as an asset carrier by industry experts Eric Fortmeyer and Chad Buchanan. Within two years, its founders expanded their freight brokerage operation by opening the first branch office in Chicago. Since then it has rapidly expanded and has 12 locations across the USA, boasting well over 100% year-over-year growth.

The company is a freight broker providing logistics to a wide array of users with coverage in the continental USA, Canada and Mexico across all modes of transportation.

Descartes provides on-demand, software-as-a-service focused on improving the productivity, performance and security of logistics-intensive businesses. Its headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and it has offices and partners around the world.