Truckload logistics software is increasingly becoming the logistics solution of choice among small to midsize companies that don't employ logistics professionals. In most cases, companies that don't employ logistics experts or use logistics software turn to third party logistics providers to handle their truckload (TL) shipping solutions. Companies may choose third party logistics providers for a variety of reasons, but two factors that generally influence this decision are companies' perception that they can't handle their own logistics and the corollary perception that only companies that specialize in transportation logistics could yield the most optimal TL shipping solutions. Converse to these perceptions is the fact that many companies that lack core competency in logistics are now acting as their own TL logistics providers by using truckload logistics software. With an easy to use interface and customizable options that reflect a company's particular shipping needs, TL shipping software offers companies an increased range of shipping options at a lower price than third party logistics.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of third party logistics is that allows companies to be free of the logistics process. However, the price that companies can pay for this negligible freedom can be costly. Management based third party logistics providers make their money by acting as middlemen between shipping companies and carrier companies, securing rate discounts from carriers and charging clients a significant amount above the actual shipping cost in order to make a profit. But in additional to simply costing more money than using logistics software, third party logistics poses another problem: because management based logistics providers only work with carriers that offer preferred discounts, they potentially exclude carriers that could offer their clients the best overall shipping solutions. When companies choose logistics software instead of renewing their contract with a third party logistics provider, they have the opportunity view a full rage of shipping options and choose those that benefit them and not a third party's business interest.

When you consider the factors that go into determining the best TL shipping solutions, that management based third party logistics providers only consider carriers that offer a preferred discount is shocking. For example, freight optimization, shipping route optimization and the potential for integrated shipping methods are three bargain basement factors that significantly influence the overall cost and delivery viability of a TL shipping solution. Unlike third party logistics, TL shipping software examines these and other factors simultaneously, eventually identifying the best carrier in relation to each factor. Third party logistics is an expense that never goes away. Companies have no insight into their own logistics process and therefore remain trapped at the hands of profiteering logistics experts. But when companies switch to TL shipping software, they don't just get rid of the cost that comes with paying a middleman; the increased range of shipping solutions that they experience allows them to drastically cut their shipping cost. Research shows that companies that implement logistics software can decrease their total shipping costs by 10 percent at the end of one year.

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