A recent television special about the famous author Mark Twain talks about his travels. Not only those up and down the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, but also those trips that he made around the world in a quest to write his humorous travel updates. Not even Twain’s tall tales, however, could have imagined the logistics systems that are tracked by transportation management software platforms. And while there are still many shipments that are made across water, Twain, and his wondering soul, would have been interested in the busy network that trains, trucks, airplanes, and ships create across the country and around the world.
Transportation broker software platforms play an integral role in helping both suppliers and buyers make sure that the products that they need reach their destinations on time. From less than load (LTL) shipments that only travel a short distance to multiple train cars that cross the entire nation, there is obviously a need for transportation management software to help track these shipments and successful deliveries.
Consider some of these facts and figures about the transportation industry and the impact that it has on the nation’s economy:
- Public truckload carriers report that the average length of haul has decreased 4% between 2011 and 2016, according to Satish Jindel, president of SJ Consulting Group.
- 12 million trucks, rail cars, locomotives, and shipping vessels move goods across the transportation network.
- As many as 5.9 million commercial motor vehicle drivers operate in the U.S. according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
- The value of freight moved is expected to increase from $882 per ton in 2007 to $1,377 per ton in 2040, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
- Rail is the dominant mode by tons and ton-miles for shipments moved from 750 to 2,000 miles.
- In comparison, trucks carry the largest share of freight by value, tons, and ton-miles for shipments moving 750 or fewer miles.
Before the turn of the century, it would have taken a master of the tall tail like Mark Twain to even begin to imagine the world’s transportation system that the world now depends upon. Fortunately, with the use of the latest transportation management software these complicated networks can be successfully monitored.