project44 connects TL and LTL through visibility platform

The Chicago-based technology company, which has been a leading voice in driving acceptance of API connectivity, launched an offering that integrates multimodal data.    The Chicago-based logistics and transportation technology provider project44 said Wednesday it has developed a single interface through which customers can get access to a range of full truckload and less-than-truckload visibility activities.
   The new offering, built on project44’s application programming interface (API)-based platform, gives users the ability to incorporate data across both modes, including end-point tracking information and real-time estimated arrival updates on their chosen integrated mapping interface.
   The software company has become known in the industry predominantly for advancing the notion that APIs are a superior way to connect systems across carriers, freight brokers and shippers, not electronic data interchange (EDI) message sets.
   The company initially offered rating and transit time APIs for the less-than-truckload market, but has expanded its development capabilities to other modes and to visibility. The goal of the platform is to expedite system integration to allow all parties to transact critical supply chain information more quickly.
   project44, which snagged $10.5 million in venture capital funding in the fall, kickstarted the process of developing a multimodal platform in January with the release of its connectNG product. That platform is designed to allow users to “normalize and enrich” transportation and logistics data through what the company calls its “core services APIs” around largely regular industry processes.
   “A true network approach is needed that encourages the integration of other technologies and builds a multimodal ecosystem of shared API connectivity,” project44 CEO Jett McCandless said in January.
   About the truckload-LTL visibility platform, McCandless said, “project44 users can now access multimodal load visibility without the heavy lifting of maintaining different integrations – increasing the speed at which they can act and reducing the costly effects of at risk shipments.”
   The company also cited recent analysis of its API-led approach from the consultant Armstrong & Associates.
   “The company has capitalized on applying an established technological trend to transportation management,” the report said. “The model will translate well from LTL APIs to (truckload) providers, enhancing the value and efficiencies being delivered to their growing customer base.”
   project44 said development of the enhanced visibility platform was driven by demand from its growing list of enterprise shippers and large 3PLs.