C.H. Robinson targets small, midsize shippers with new TMS

The neutral cloud-based platform Freightview was incubated at Kansas freight broker Freightquote, which C.H. Robinson bought in late 2014 to bolster its small shipper customer base.    The freight brokerage and third party logistics provider C.H. Robinson on Monday introduced a new cloud-based transportation management system targeted at small and midsize shippers of less-than-truckload freight.
   The new system, called Freightview, is a neutral TMS platform intended to help small businesses with quoting, booking, tracking, and reporting, the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company said in a statement.
   Freightview was acquired by C.H. Robinson as part of its acquisition of Freightquote, the Overland Park, Kan.-based freight broker it acquired in 2014. The strategy behind Freightview is that small and midsize shippers are underserved by the existing TMS software market and typically “ship freight using a manual, inefficient, labor-intensive process that ties up internal resources.”
   The landscape for cloud-based, domestic-mode transportation management systems has expanded in recent years as software companies seek to convert mid-market and small shippers to a more automated way of planning and executing their transportation moves. A host of browser-based solutions have sprung up, each with a somewhat differentiated model or market they seek to address. Some vendors have even offered to implement their systems with no upfront costs, and only take a percentage of savings the solution produces.
   C.H. Robinson said Freightview is designed to allow users to access all rates across their transportation providers in one platform. For example, LTL shippers typically have to access the individual websites of all their carriers, logging on to each to find comparable information across their transportation providers.
   “Many shippers are growing quickly, but managing freight is slowing them down,” said Jason Roberts, co-founder of Freightview. “We built Freightview so small and midsized business can be more competitive in today’s marketplace, Freightview redefines a business’s relationship with shipping as employees ship freight in a fraction of the time and managers gain control and visibility of shipping operations.”
   Roberts said Freightview can be set up in 24 to 48 hours and uses an application program interface instead of electronic data interchange to connect shippers with their service providers. The system can be integrated into a shipper’s website or sales application to provide shipping rates on internet purchases or incorporate freight quotes into sales bids.