Over the summer, Schneider (NYSE: SNDR) introduced FreightPower, a technology solution it believed would increase access to capacity for its shipping partners and improve load options for its carriers.
FreightPower has now become even easier to use with the introduction of the FreightPower app. The app, the company said, allows carriers to quickly book loads instantly and in real time.
“Schneider understands that every minute in the day matters and carriers need the right tools at their fingertips to enhance their business,” Mark Rourke, Schneider’s president and CEO, said. “FreightPower is just one of the ways we’re continuously investing in carriers to provide them with an exceptional experience that ensures they’re able to maximize their results today and well into the future.”
The app offers load recommendations set around key parameters such as trucks and lanes and pending inbound shipments. Filtering allows users to customize and search for loads they want quicker. The app allows filtering around destination deadhead, pickup data, trailer type and revenue among others.
Booking a load through the app is quick and transparent with the Book Now functionality, Schneider noted, with real-time prices listed with available load. Driver updates are automatic with geofencing and arrive/depart tracking automated. The app provides real-time estimated time of arrival.
Load and fleet management are also enhanced through the app. All trip information is located in a single place with location, routes, appointments, equipment and trailer information included. For fleet managers, the app makes it easy to assign drivers to loads and dispatchers can view and manage driver activity.
Loads of interest can also be watched so they can be booked when it makes sense to do so.
“We have found that FreightPower helps save carriers as much as three hours every day,” Erin Van Zeeland, senior vice president and general manager of logistics services at Schneider, said in a statement. “That is time they can use for more turns, more growth and more income.”
In an interview with FreightWaves, Van Zeeland said the addition of the app provides more communication between Schneider’s brokers and the carrier and driver. Power-only loads have also been added to the app, opening up more opportunities for smaller fleets. Previously, booking power only required phone conversations and a back-and-forth.
When Freight Power was first announced in June, Van Zeeland said it would benefit drivers who will have access to loads not previously available to them.
“This is a competitive offering for Schneider in the marketplace that allows us to serve more of our customers’ freight,” a spokesperson told FreightWaves at the time. “Shippers want flexible capacity, and by leveraging the benefits of both our asset and non-asset offerings, we are putting more capacity at their fingertips.”
Schneider’s reach, the spokesperson mentioned, benefits shippers when dealing with “hard-to-service markets.” FreightPower utilizes Schneider’s advanced analytics to assist shippers in network design to improve overall efficiency.
“Today’s shippers will have the advantage of Schneider’s advanced analytics to optimize their supply chain – seeing more of their freight serviced at a better price,” the spokesperson said, noting that “more on access to analytics and reporting will be available in the future.”
While the app offers GPS tracking, Van Zeeland said it is not a requirement to haul a Schneider brokered load. She added that allowing tracking better informs the system, which can lead to more freight opportunities and better recommendations.
One thing FreightPower and the app are not is a direct replacement for the broker.
“We see the app and the FreightPower portal as an extension of the relationship the carrier has with the broker,” she said, allowing the broker to get to know the carrier better and offer more relevant freight options “as we understand more about their network.”
Van Zeeland added that the broker-carrier communication has consistently ranked highly in company surveys.
“We would never want to depersonalize that relationship because it is incredibly beneficial,” she said.
The FreightPower app is available in Google Play and the App Store.
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Brian Straight.
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