UPS Capital, a subsidiary of UPS, recently announced the integration of its suite of shipping insurance application program interfaces (APIs) into the free transportation management system (TMS) from InMotion Global called “AscendTMS.” Small- to mid-sized shippers are expected to be the chief users of this new offering.
According to a survey by UPS, while most shipments move without issue, 92% of shippers experience some type of loss, damage or delay each year. Offering transactional shipment insurance across a variety of transportation modes can help to mitigate the financial risks of day-to-day supply chain incidents.
“Our goal is to provide businesses a frictionless, digital experience for obtaining protection against loss and damage to their shipments and filing claims,” said Mark Robinson, president of UPS Capital. “Investments in our technology suite and collaboration with top technology providers, such as AscendTMS, enable us to deliver this experience.
“The future success of supply chain financial services will be increasingly won or lost by how they are delivered to the end user,” he added. “Integrating access to loss and damage protection in the natural workflow of the freight transaction simplifies the process and removes the manual nature of obtaining coverage for many today.
“The integration of our APIs with AscendTMS allows for instantaneous, on-demand delivery...,” Robinson continued. “The inherent efficiencies of their cloud-based delivery channel enable access to comprehensive insurance coverage for a multitude of smaller businesses that may not have the latest and most efficient technology solutions…”
The UPS Capital suite of six APIs supports transactional quoting, coverage confirmation, invoicing and claims settlement:
Insurance Coverage
- Request coverage: the shipper can request all-risk insurance coverage via an internal system or a customer-facing interface
- Obtain a quote: the quote returns the fees, terms and conditions of coverage
- Coverage confirmation: the shipper confirms acceptance of the insurance coverage
- Invoice: an invoice is generated for coverage requested during the applicable service period
Claims Settlement
- Claims submission – the shipper files insurance claims through the integrated platform
- Claims settlement – UPS Capital processes the claim and provides payment for the loss
“Our TMS users tell us they want to buy their financial services, like cargo insurance, as they need them, and at a competitive price,” said Tim Higham, president and CEO of InMotion Global. “They don’t want to buy annual blanket coverages or services they may never need. Ideally, they want to buy services for both their less-than-truckload and truckload shipments as they need them and to get real-time delivery of those services via their TMS. That’s exactly what this collaboration delivers.”
