PCS Software has released a free tool to connect shippers and carriers—FreightNet—that allows carriers to register and share their preferred lanes and assets, maximizing exposure with shippers.
“Think of it like LinkedIn,” CEO Chris Poelma told FleetOwner, clarifying that FreightNet is not a load board.
Carriers are able to, after a brief vetting process from PCS, upload information on what lanes and types of freight they are interested in. AI-enabled software by PCS will then connect carriers with shippers whose preferences match, allowing them to reach out to each other, according to PCS.
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A shipper—for example, Tyson Foods (No. 79 on the FleetOwner 500: Top Private Fleets of 2023)—can post lanes through which they contract, and a carrier independent of Tyson can indicate it is interested in that lane. Tyson can then reach out to that carrier and bring it into a contract.
FreightNet is free, and although it has features connected to other PCS solutions, users do not need to be existing PCS customers, according to the company.
“What we get out of it is a much richer environment for many of the brands that our platform supports,” Poelma said. “So it's good for the brands, good for the shippers, good for dedicated fleets.”
FreightNet can be accessed via web browser—with a mobile app planned to launch in coming months. Although shippers and carriers cannot contact each other directly through FreightNet—that feature is planned for the near future—businesses’ contact information can be found on the platform in order for companies to reach out to each other.
AI-powered freight matching solution
Every week, PCS has 100,000 users across 26 countries interact with its TMS platform, which manages more than 10 million loads per year. It uses over 20 years of that load data it has gathered throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and has used that data to inform mathematical models to optimize hauls, such as by minimizing deadhead and backhaul.
Poelma gave the example of a private fleet hauling freight into Florida—a state that he said typically receives more freight than it exports. If that private fleet wants to optimize its backhaul, the PCS algorithm will recommend loads.
“If you're running deadhead out of five lanes, and you want to reduce that to 8% or 9%,” he said, “You can do that with our artificially intelligent optimizer.”
