Third-party logistics firm Hub Group and software vendor Velant have formed a strategic alliance to market transportation planning services to private fleet clients.
Downers Grove, IL-based Hub and Atlanta-based Velant said they plan to share responsibilities for delivering and managing this joint transportation management service.
Under the agreement, Velant will provide its transportation management center (TMC) system to Hub's supply chain solutions division customers. Order and shipment data for each client will be automatically transferred to the Velant TMC, typically on a daily basis, the companies said.
Velant's system then generates an optimized plan of loads, routes, and schedules based on that day's orders and automatically transmit this plan electronically to Hub and its logistics specialists. From there, Hub takes responsibility for execution, exception-management, tracking, and other critical operational functions, it said.
Neither company said if the joint program would completely replace private carrier operations for Hub's customers. They did say that the system is designed to reduce transportation costs, provide greater control over transportation operations, and give Hub clients the freedom to focus more on core business issues, while letting Velant and Hub handle technology and execution issues.