California-based Trimble has enhanced its transportation management system (TMS) products – TMW.Suite, TruckMate and Innovative IES – for carriers, brokers and third-party logistics (3PL) providers.

“We remain focused on further developing our dynamic TMS to provide additional value to customers,” said Jay Delaney, senior director of product management at Trimble Transportation. “These new integrations and upgrades help bring the connected supply chain together more than ever, streamlining operations and creating efficiencies for carriers and their customers.”

With the added integration to KeepTruckin’s mobile communications tool, carriers can better take advantage of key information such as electronic driving log data, position, geofencing and messaging. Available directly within Innovative or TMW.Suite TMS, this integration enables effective communication with drivers and continual monitoring of hours and status.

An integration with Project44 provides TruckMate broker and 3PL users with quicker access to rate quotes and easier management of load tenders and acceptance. With this tool, brokers and 3PLs can gain access to carriers directly within their TMS without the need to maintain individual connections.

Container IQ has been enhanced so TruckMate intermodal carriers can track containers in port, providing more visibility into container location. This enhancement joins Container IQ’s existing rail tracking functionality and expands fleets’ ability to anticipate containers’ availability for pickup. This visibility can decrease time spent waiting at ports for containers to become available and additional port demurrage fees caused by late pickups.

Using information in Container IQ, intermodal fleets can also set appointments with the port to authorise charges and validate the pickup company for added security.

Along with the existing TMW Synergize, TruckMate users are now empowered with a user-configurable cloud-based option for document and process automation. When using WorkOptima with TruckMate, carriers and brokers can manage all their critical documents, workflows and processes in a cohesive and integrated way. It enables automation to improve accuracy, save time and reduce errors and the costs of using manual paper and workflow processing. The result is an increase in productivity, improvements to efficiency and a reduction in receivables days outstanding.

Innovative’s new dashboard provides a flexible user interface that allows users to customise the screens they rely on every day to meet their own organisational needs and processes. With this Windows-based tool, users can add key data content to their screen and then drag and drop it into the format that works best for them.

Content such as available loads, assigned order, orders in progress and units are available and users can also incorporate additional content such as reports, maps and graphs to improve the management of their daily activities.

Available for fuel marketers as well as carriers, the Fuel Dispatch subscription bundles offer a standalone way to improve planning and dispatch operations, streamline in-ground inventory management and replenishment of products, and track fuel deliveries to ensure they are made on time and in the right quantity. This bundle is designed to help companies leverage key cloud hosting services to limit IT expenses and requirements, while also predictably managing their technology expenses through monthly payments without an upfront capital investment.

The debut of these TMS enhancements were made during Trimble’s 2020 In.Sight user conference and expo, which was held virtually last month. The three-day online event featured companies from the transportation and logistics industries showcasing the latest technologies.

Trimble Transportation is multi-modal and provides products for the long-haul trucking, field service management, rail and construction logistics industries to create an integrated supply chain. In trucking, Trimble provides enterprise and mobility focused on business intelligence and data analytics; safety and regulatory compliance; navigation and routing; freight brokerage; supply chain visibility and final kilometre; transportation management; and fleet maintenance.