FreightWise, a provider of transportation management systems, has announced a deal with less-than-truckload carrier Estes that is also notable because FreightWise is using the transaction to reboot the Kuebix TMS platform that it acquired in late 2023.
Kuebix held a significant market share in the TMX world when it was bought by Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) in 2020 for about $200 million. Trimble had announced in 2022 that it was starting the process of shutting Kuebix in favor of its own TMS offering, with the closure expected to be completed by the end of 2025. A little more than a year later, FreightWise bought Kuebix.
The FreightWise agreement with Estes, announced by the TMS supplier last week, involves feeding Estes rate quotes through the FreightWise TMS. But in response to a series of email questions sent by FreightWaves to a representative from FreightWise, the revival of Kuebix was described as an important part of the Estes deal.
“The value proposition of the Estes contract is deep, and will include more carriers than Estes,” the spokeswoman said of the agreement with the LTL carrier. Additional carriers are expected to sign similar agreements, she said, but Estes is the first.
“All users of our TMS systems will now be able to see Estes price offerings and, in the future, any other carrier that joins,” the spokeswoman added.
But the other aspect, she said, was that the contract “is another significant milestone in returning Kuebix to its throne as the leading TMS platform in North America.”
“The Kuebix platform was relevant, viable, and shippers loved it,” the FreightWise spokeswoman said. “When the sunset was announced, it put a lot of shippers in a tough spot. We purchased Kuebix to support and build on it, and that is happening at a rapid pace because of the moves we are making.”
Estes is the first carrier to sign on to this offering through FreightWise’s Preferred Carrier Program. The spokeswoman said the goal of FreightWise is to have three national LTL carriers and two regional carriers added to the system. Further announcements of that growth are hoped for in the first quarter, she said, with more additions by the middle of the year.
Estes’ return to using Kuebix harkens back to when it was a reseller of the system for small shippers who used Estes’ LTL offerings. But the spokeswoman added that “this is a more robust partnership that will span a wider customer profile than ever before.”
Carrie Johnsontone, the vice president of customer experience & innovation at Estes, said Kuebix “remains an important part of our offerings.”
“Many of our customers continue to enjoy Kuebix’s robust platform and features, and we’re pleased that the planned sunset of the platform is no longer needed,” Johntone said. .
Part of the reboot involves an offering called OnKue. FreightWise described it as a “sign-up online version of Kuebix.”
OnKue has a monthly subscription fee that begins at $69, she said, “removing cost barriers of entry for smaller shippers.” One of the marketing arguments for the OnKue offering is that it is “an attractive model for customers caught between the legal fight of MyCarrier, project 44 and SMC3.”
MyCarrier is a TMS provider that has long been focused on smaller shippers. It has been involved in a legal battle over charges of patent infringement with P44, and the battle pulled in SMC3 in recent weeks.
In a sharp-elbowed comment on that dispute, the spokeswoman said that “some of those MyCarrier customers are worried about the legal notices they’ve received about IP infringement and data discovery and are looking for a new solution or partner.”
Emails sent to MyCarrier legal representatives asking for comment had not been returned by publication time.
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