As the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) moves more products from straight class to density-based pricing, shippers are feeling the financial fallout from surprise adjustments and variances. Now one freight management company is using revolutionary technology to save their shippers time, money, and the headache of unexpected costs.
“We built our proprietary Freight Innovation Density Analytics (FIDA) technology around protecting our customers from charges that eat into their profits,” says TJ Henderson, Vice President of Operations at Pittsburgh-based Target Freight Management.
Henderson explains, “carriers are trying to maximize space on their trucks, and many of the straight class NMFC’s are being moved to a density-based pricing scale. For example, Class 100 freight was always Class 100 freight, regardless of weight or dimensions. But now, this new move to density-based freight pricing means that one Class 100 shipment could move up to Class 300 or Class 400 based on its weight and dimensions — often tripling or quadrupling in price — yet the shipper often doesn’t know about that change until the shipment has delivered and the bill is received.”
This pricing roulette leads to penalties and surcharges, which makes it nearly impossible for shippers to accurately budget for or defend against losses without costly investment of dimming and weighing every package prior to it leaving the facility — a time and labor complication that few shippers can affordably factor into their supply chain.
“Instead, with our patented FIDA technology,” says Henderson, “our hardware will weigh, measure and dim your shipment in under 5 seconds. Our software then utilizes APIs to communicate this information into our TMS and the customer’s ERP, as well as classifying the freight, taking photos, and placing this information on the bill of lading. Our goal is to properly classify your freight, avoid reclasses, and provide photos for claims.”
This real-time tech solution not only saves Henderson’s clients money, but it also provides them with peace of mind. “They know that what they ship out is always going to be classed properly with no surprise charges along the way.”
