Leading real-time supply chain visibility provider FourKites® today announced its role as a Collaborator in the Scheduling Standards Consortium (SSC) as the first real-time visibility platform participating. FourKites joins organizations involved with the SSC — including Arrive Logistics, BlueYonder, Coyote Logistics, DHL, e2open, Echo, J.B. Hunt Transport, Lineage, Mastery, One Network Enterprises, Oracle, Ryder, TI NTG, Uber Freight, Werner and Worldwide Express — which aims to foster greater efficiency within the supply chain technology landscape.

Freight scheduling has been a pervasive problem for the supply chain, compounded by the past decade’s tremendous growth and diversification in scheduling solutions. Shippers and carriers today are responsible for juggling dozens of methods of scheduling freight with shippers, each with their own interface and API, which creates friction and inefficiencies throughout the supply chain.

In response to this challenge, J.B. Hunt and Uber Freight joined forces in 2022 to establish the SSC, to create the first universal appointment scheduling standard in the form of an API. With many leading organizations now involved and driving the Standard forward, the SSC’s goal is to simplify the integration of systems across the fragmented ecosystem between shippers, carriers and intermediaries to create a more efficient appointment scheduling process. The SSC has endorsed a universal standard for the API, released October 2, 2023, which eliminates the need for multiple interfaces and allows carriers to interact through a single interface.

“Embracing a universal scheduling API unlocks seamless coordination across supply chains,” explains Viral Parekh, Head of Logistics Operations at The Kraft Heinz Company. “As more companies endorse this unified approach, we pave the way for unparalleled system efficiency, streamlining operations and driving transformative growth throughout the industry.”

FourKites is collaborating with the SSC because of its proven commitment to optimizing ecosystem performance, carrier success and building a more user-friendly operating environment. In addition, FourKites’ robust customer base and recognized industry leadership enables it to play a role in developing the API and accelerating adoption across its customer and partner network. With over 100,000 appointments scheduled in the platform every month, Appointment Manager is one of FourKites’ fastest-growing products, as it significantly eliminates the friction associated with manual time slot booking.

“We’re thrilled to participate in this consortium of industry heavy-hitters,” said Mathew Elenjickal, founder and CEO of FourKites. “A single API between our Appointment Manager solution and our shippers’ carrier networks will create a frictionless operating environment for everyone involved, and will make FourKites customers Shippers of Choice, with lower cost to serve and a reliable, reputable integration.”

The SSC’s main objectives are to define the API standard for sharing scheduling information, eliminate manual processes by automating interactions where possible, implement standardized interfaces and integrations across core platforms, and advocate the standard across the industry.