Picture what it was to be a 3PL (third-party logistics company) 30 years ago. Filing cabinets were full of paper documents. Fax machines, handwritten documents, and corded phones were the way of communication. There were no navigational systems, only paper maps.

Thanks to advancements in technology, 3PLs can function without filing cabinets. Now documents can be saved to the cloud and sent in seconds through email. Very few documents are handwritten and employees are highly mobile with the ability to work in office, on the road, or even from home. As great as that all is, even more technology is needed for a 3PL to compete in today’s market.

Technology Improves the Customer Experience

Reducing paper use, being mobile, and wireless, is not enough to keep a 3PL competitive. Customers are looking for more visibility, while carriers are looking for easier and quicker processes to book shipments. There are still many manual processes that are able to be automated with technology, offering a better customer experience. Technology such as digital freight matching and artificial intelligence are some examples of what is now available to 3PLs.

Trinity Logistics looks for ways to improve efficiencies and serve greater support to our customers, carriers, and independent Agents through technology. Over the past few years, we’ve been able to grow our technology and offer our industry audiences many improvements with their experiences.

Trinity Stays on Top of Technology

Trinity’s Technology Team is always growing as we look for ways to stand out and provide excellent service as a modern day 3PL. We have a team of our own software engineers who keep our business applications up-to-date with newer technology.

Are you ready to read about the technology we can offer to support your business?

Tracking and Tracing Options

Trinity offers our customers and carriers their choice of tracking and tracing applications. Currently, we offer FourKites, Trucker Tools, and Macropoint. A carrier downloads one of the apps, giving Trinity the ability to keep track the shipment and offer real-time visibility to our customer. This also helps reduce the check-in calls to the carrier, allowing them to focus on reaching their destination safely.

Quick and Easy Carrier Setups

We have a Carrier Relations Team to ensure Trinity connects with fully vetted and qualified carriers. We have taken what used to be a two hour process down to an average of 20 minutes thanks to integration with My Carrier Packet (MCP). Instead of printed paper packets that had to be filled out, scanned, and emailed or faxed in, My Carrier Packet gives the potential carrier the capability to fill out information online through their website. Thanks to MCP and our Software Engineering Team, the packets and insurance are seamlessly integrated with our Transportation Management System (TMS), making carrier set-ups a breeze.

Up-To-Date Systems

As stated earlier, our Software Engineering Team works hard to continue improving our systems. Our TMS was updated which made our carrier module more user friendly and offered the capability of housing more vital information, making it easy to link up to services like My Carrier Packet. The new carrier module also offered our Team Members a capacity and history tool to help continue building relationships with carriers who have hauled with us before.

Managed Transportation Technology Solutions

Geared toward our shippers, we offer Transportation Management Systems (TMS). A TMS gives you more visibility into your supply chain, reduces your costs, and improves performance. Choosing to house all your transportation management needs in one place and having access to a Team of logistics experts through Trinity’s Managed Services can help increase efficiencies.

Banyan for LTL

Instead of manual processes you can utilize our easy-to-use system to manage your LTL (less-than-truckload) shipments fast and more efficiently. When choosing to work with Trinity for your LTL shipments, you get the use of Banyan Technology at no extra cost to you. You are trained and given a login and password and gain exclusive access to Banyan’s Live Lane Specials and Ground Freight Pricing.

With one of Trinity’s guiding values being continuous improvement, we look for new ways to improve and better serve our industry audiences. Right now, as you are reading this article, our Technology Team is working to improve your experience. Don’t just choose to work with a company that arranges the shipment of your freight; choose to work with a company that serves you the data you need and the experience you deserve.

AUTHOR: Christine Griffith

MARCH 31st, 2014 – Trinity Logistics has been selected by Pompeian, Inc. as the single source logistics provider for their main distribution center in Baltimore, MD.

Pompeian, founded in 1906 and headquartered in Baltimore, is America’s largest national brand of olive oil, best-selling wine vinegars and a variety of cooking wines. Well-known as the industry leader, Pompeian is the first brand to carry the USDA Quality Monitored seal on its extra virgin olive oil.

Trinity Logistics has been serving Pompeian’s truckload transportation needs for fifteen years. As is the case with many manufacturers in the beginning phase of logistics outsourcing, the partnership between Trinity and Pompeian began as a transactional, load-by-load relationship. Over the years, as Trinity arranged thousands of truckload shipments for Pompeian, including just-in-time expedited shipments, a 15-year track record of successful truckload shipping for Pompeian and its customers emerged. This long-standing relationship built on trust and continued success is what ultimately led to Trinity being selected as Pompeian’s single-source logistics provider.

As part of the agreement, Trinity Logistics has placed a member of their Design Solutions team on-site at Pompeian in Baltimore to assist in managing Pompeian’s logistics operations. Pompeian’s order management system has also been integrated seamlessly with Trinity’s transportation management software (TMS), allowing for more effective load planning and complete shipment visibility.

“Over the past five years, transforming into a single-source logistics solutions provider has been a huge focus for Trinity Logistics,” shared Jeff Banning, Trinity’s CEO and President. “We’ve been relentlessly dedicated to expanding our service offerings and truly becoming a one-stop shop for our customers. The opportunity to put these efforts to work on-site at Pompeian is an incredibly exciting opportunity for all involved.”

“Pompeian strives to provide the best service to our customers.  Such service entails timeliness and accuracy in our deliveries,” explained Robin Harricharan, Controller at Pompeian. “Our relationship with Trinity provides us that comfort.  It is that comfort that led us to welcome Trinity to show us their transportation management software, which we now rely on, and it has been a great success.  We greatly look forward to our continued relationship with Trinity as they assist us in navigating best practices and cost effectiveness in our everyday logistics decisions.”

Want to see exactly how Trinity Logistics has been able to help Pompeian? Check out our case study here.