TruckerCloud has launched its Instant Carrier Onboarding feature to support its real-time visibility software platform.
Through its new onboarding service, users can link to FMCSA records to verify carriers are active and then add them to their networks knowing that TruckerCloud’s API integrations with ELD providers will be able to track that carrier’s location.
Carriers can now share their location data via their ELD, eliminating the need to use a phone application or to create a custom interface between carriers and transportation management systems.
Investment and new CEO
The product release comes about a month after it was announced that TruckerCloud received an undisclosed investment from Rule 1 Ventures to continue to support its real-time visibility network.
“We’re excited to partner with TruckerCloud,” reported Gary Buxton, general partner and COO/CFO of Rule 1 Ventures. “We’ve got a deep history and development expertise in the transportation and logistics industry. TruckerCloud already offers unique functionality to the market, and our product road map plans to further revolutionize the industry.”
As part of that partnership, the company has appointed Spencer Mitchell, an entrepreneur in residence at Rule 1, as TruckerCloud’s new CEO.
“A lot of the inefficiencies in transportation seem to be a result of the fragmentation of the market,” Mitchell told FreightWaves. “In order to solve these inefficiencies you have to integrate all of these carriers into an electronic logging device aggregator so that brokers, shippers and factors will have a one-stop shop to get trucking location data.”
Mitchell said while other large visibility players are focused on building location algorithms and tools for Fortune 500 companies to track all of their shipments, TruckerCloud plans on focusing on creating a tool for the small to midsize shipper or freight broker that could benefit from a one-stop shop of real-time updates provided directly from the ELD of the carrier.
“The key differentiator between us and our competitors is the combination of ELD-based visibility and our Instant Carrier Onboarding functionality,” said Mitchell. “We collect data every two to 15 minutes, depending on the provider, and our customers know that data is accurate.”
According to Mitchell, another key difference is TruckerCloud’s relationship with transportation factoring companies. Factors can view where carriers are to provide funding advances and can confidently run freight audits to be sure of the exact truck that ran a specific load.
“Technology companies are starting to come to TruckerCloud as their ELD aggregator,” said Mitchell. “They are realizing they can build out all of these APIs to 50-some ELD providers or they can come to TruckerCloud with one API for one clearinghouse for visibility data.”
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