IntelliTrans Celebrates Thirty Years of Successful Relationships with Customers and Employees

 30 Key Points to Honor How IntelliTrans Has Grown and Evolved 

Atlanta, GA — August 10, 2022 — IntelliTrans, the leader in global multi-modal solutions that optimize supply chain operations for bulk and break-bulk product manufacturers, celebrates 30 years in business, successfully helping clients to save costs on transportation spend, improve service to customers, and increase sustainability efforts. 

“As we celebrate this milestone and look back on our growth over the years, we also look forward to our growth plans this year and beyond,” said Ken Sherman, President, IntelliTrans. 

IntelliTrans is very grateful for the opportunity to serve its customers for 30 years. Below are 30 notable “events” from their first 30 years in business: 

1. IntelliTrans was founded in 1992 in San Francisco in a shared office with Southern Pacific Railroad. It began by helping shippers with modal conversion from road to rail to reduce transport costs and road traffic.
2. As one would expect in Supply Chain Logistics, IntelliTrans’ first years were filled with discovering just how many challenges its customers faced. Some of the very first shipments traced were flatbed rail cars with heavy equipment, and these shipments were delayed due to an unprecedented flood in the summer of 1993 in St. Louis. This was one of the first major supply chain disruptions IntelliTrans helped its customers through, but certainly not the last.
3. It wasn’t just natural disasters that affected supply chain capabilities; IntelliTrans learned there were other challenges its customers face. In this case, the cargo on those same shipments delayed due to the unprecedented flood was vandalized while idle in that area.
4. Shipment “visibility” isn’t as new as it might seem from marketing in recent years. IntelliTrans started tracking shipments and providing visibility in 1993. The first shipments were not tracked automatically – the company collected data, then used Access and Excel for communication, analysis, and decision-making.
5. In 1994, the company moved to Boston to be closer to its customer base and better align with the time zones generating most of the work.
6. In 1996, the company moved its headquarters to Atlanta, GA, where it remains today. IntelliTrans joined numerous other logistics-focused businesses in Atlanta like Norfolk Southern, UPS, and others. In part, this decision was a logistical one – being located near a world-class airport like ATL helped with the increased travel required to serve customers and expand the business. Additionally, the move to Atlanta increased access to talent from leading local universities.
7. A large manufacturer of lumber and paper-based products was IntelliTrans’ first customer (and still is). Brian Cupp, IntelliTrans’ Director of Operations, got his start with IntelliTrans working with the company in Crossett, AR, on a modal conversion & rail transportation visibility improvement project. This client example has proven that the technology, services, and “stick-to-itiveness” of IntelliTrans are valuable to customers.
8. With growing expertise in moving forest products, IntelliTrans acquired a business in the UK that provided a port & warehouse operating system for facilities specializing in forest products. Through that relationship, IntelliTrans reached out to Stora Enso, a paper manufacturer in the EU. Through that relationship, IntelliTrans established a truly multi-modal shipment management platform to address the EU market. This also established IntelliTrans’ European presence.
9. In 1998, IntelliTrans expanded its capabilities with short sea shipping visibility and execution in Europe and expanded work on its early SaaS software model.
10. In 1999, GE Rail exited its strategic rail management business; GE still wanted to provide additional services to its rail leasing customers, so it invested in IntelliTrans. This investment was one of the key drivers for fueling accelerated growth.
11. In early 2000, IntelliTrans continued looking for expansion opportunities. This would lead them to execute several strategic acquisitions for future growth. IntelliTrans acquired five businesses: RoadRunner rail tracking; RADSS for tracking/tracing rail cars, analytics, and equipment management; Bridgepoint from CSX for rail tracking; August Design for software development; and VMI from GE.
12. The VMI acquisition led to additional opportunities. In December 2002, IntelliTrans acquired Global VMI from GE Plastics due to the synergies between their solutions, including a solution for collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment.
13. In 2003, IntelliTrans invested in expanding its software and services offering. This resulted in the development of its first ocean visibility module and the beginnings of the intervention and operations support model.
14. IntelliTrans began expanding relationships with key industry players. One of these critical relationships was with Norfolk Southern. This resulted in working on several key projects relating to multi-modal shipment and inventory visibility.  
15. This expansion of crucial industry relationships continued when the company added Warehouse Management for CN transload. Over time, this expanded as other railroads and transload operators have implemented Materials Management Systems (M2S) to manage their transload facilities.
16. In 2004, IntelliTrans expanded its multi-modal visibility offering to a new mode, barge.
17. In 2005, IntelliTrans decided to open a transportation services office in Conway, Arkansas, a growing technology and supply chain-focused community near Little Rock, to enable the company to support growth in its expanding supply chain services offering.
18. The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) served as the proving ground for this transportation services location concept. In a conference room at UCA, six people began providing transportation services to our customers – 17 years and three moves to larger offices later, it has grown to almost 100 people and continues to grow.
19. An unrelated acquisition by Roper Technologies would set up a new path for IntelliTrans’s future as Roper Technologies acquired TransCore in 2004.   
20. IntelliTrans continued to look at ways to serve its customers better. They began exploring the market for acquiring a truck TMS application to expand its services to the helping its customers with expanded truck needs. This search led IntelliTrans to an application called CarrierPoint, but the company was too late – TransCore had recently acquired Carrierpoint.
21. However, this disappointing discovery led to a significant event for IntelliTrans. Through the conversation with TransCore, Roper Technologies began looking at IntelliTrans as a potential acquisition.
22. In April 2006, IntelliTrans was acquired by Roper Technologies.
23. With Roper’s backing, IntelliTrans’ technologies (VMI, M2S, rail and analytics, fleet and yard management, and the CarrierPoint TMS) were integrated under the IntelliTrans brand.
24. In 2008, the IntelliTrans Global Visibility Platform was introduced.
25. In 2009, IntelliTrans opened an office in Gothenburg.
26. In 2012, predictive analytics was introduced to the IntelliTrans technology stack.
27. In 2017, IntelliTrans added machine-learning technology.
28. In 2019, the Supply Chain Control Tower was introduced with deep operational control of all modes for all parties.
29. In 2021, IntelliTrans was recognized in the 2021 Gartner Magic QuadrantÔ for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms under the niche category.
30. In 2022, IntelliTrans
    1. Introduces the Open Message Systems Interface (OMSI) makes ERP integration easy across Ocean, Rail, Barge, Truck, and Intermodal Shipments
    2. Recognized in 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms for the second time.
    3. Wins Inbound Logistics Top 100 Logistics IT Award
    4. Offers IntelliVision, a live interactive Q&A webinar about the state of the transportation industry. The first episode covered: the great resignation, rail performance, and how shippers can be most successful after the pandemic. 

Since its inception, IntelliTrans has expanded its customer base and solutions offerings to capture over 40% of the rail carload business and become the top TMS for specialty equipment in the commodities industry. 

“Clients recognize we save them money on their transportation spend, improve the satisfaction of customers, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transport,” adds Sherman. “Besides the value we deliver to customers and their supply chains, we believe in our people – and they believe in the company. Many employees, including top-level management, have been here for twenty-plus years.” 

### 

 Media Contact:
Becky Boyd
MediaFirst PR (M1PR.com)
404.421.8497
becky@mediafirst.net

IntelliTrans Introduces IntelliVision: A Live Q&A on the Transportation Industry

The Great Resignation, Precision Scheduled Railroading, and Success After the Pandemic are Key Topics

Atlanta, GA — July 7, 2022 — IntelliTrans, the leader in global multi-modal solutions that optimize supply chain operations for bulk and break-bulk product manufacturers, introduces IntelliVision, a live interactive Q&A webinar about the state of the transportation industry with replays available online. The first episode covered: the great resignation, rail performance, and how shippers can be most successful after the pandemic. Future episodes will be scheduled quarterly. Viewers can subscribe to IntelliVision on the IntelliTrans YouTube Channel.

“Our first episode featured Brian Cupp, Director of Operations at IntelliTrans, and myself discussing key challenges and issues affecting our customers and the industry,” said Ken Sherman, President of IntelliTrans. “These issues included hiring and retaining talent, precision scheduled railroading, and the new normal for shippers.”

IntelliTrans’ customers have challenges hiring talent due to The Great Resignation that started during the pandemic. IntelliTrans’ business is built around people – IntelliTrans’ team delivers the services and products that IntelliTrans provides. The company has found it is no longer just competing locally for talent but across the country for the same type of people to hire. However, the company retains talent because of excellent benefits and compensation, its focus on employee satisfaction and engagement, and helping people feel valued for their work for customers.

“Not many people have longevity at the same company anymore,” said Brian Cupp, Director of Operations at IntelliTrans. “But I’ve been with IntelliTrans for 23 years, and Ken has been here for 19 years. Managers at IntelliTrans pride themselves on listening to people, recognition beyond compensation, and developmental growth.”

The next topic on the first episode of IntelliVision was Rail Performance. Railroads are public companies that must report performance to stakeholders as an operating ratio. The railroads have driven costs down with Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), a methodology to provide consistent, reliable, predictable service. This methodology has presented challenges in the first and last mile of a journey. The biggest challenge is facilities with limited footprints – few rail lines are available at a plant or distribution yard. If a schedule is missed, timelines can cascade for weeks, making it almost impossible to catch up on delivery schedules. Rail has also seen an increase in accessorial fees because of missed schedules and more cross-border documentation requirements.

“The sheer magnitude of volume our customers ship is remarkable – one steel shipper ships 15,000 railcars per month, each carrying 100 tons of steel. You can imagine what happens if the schedule is missed. It isn’t practical to go to your local hardware store to pick up a bunch of steel to fill an order of that size,” adds Sherman.

“Plus, many service disruptions are tied to labor. It started pre-pandemic at the railroads, accelerated during the pandemic, and railroads are struggling with labor shortages because rail volume recovered quicker than expected. Some of the railroads have asked their customers to reduce the volume of shipments,” adds Cupp.

IntelliTrans works hard to help customers optimize their rail networks to meet precise schedules by offering technology that provides visibility into transportation management and managed transportation services to augment the workforce.

The last IntelliVision episode 1 topic, “How Shippers Can Be Most Successful After the Pandemic,” focused on the new normal of significant supply and demand imbalance and the interconnected supply chain. Disruptions around the world have made demand spikes erratic with shorter cycles. The pandemic accelerated everything and taught many lessons to people and companies.

“Companies need to design processes that work with people who continue to work remotely,” adds Sherman. “Plus, businesses need technology that provides visibility into what is changing in the world and the downstream impact of varying demand. Building relationships with trust drives transparency and collaboration, which are keys to success in this volatile market.”

### 

 Media Contact:
Becky Boyd
MediaFirst PR (M1PR.com)
404.421.8497
becky@mediafirst.net

Supply Chain Control Towers Give More Than Just Visibility to Supply Chains 

 IntelliTrans Global Supply Chain Visibility Control Tower Enables Collaboration, Improves Resiliency, Lowers Mileage to Reduce Greenhouse Gases 

Atlanta, GA — June 28, 2022 — IntelliTrans, the leader in global multi-modal solutions that optimize supply chain operations for bulk and break-bulk product manufacturers, discusses how supply chain control towers provide more than just supply chain visibility. Control towers also help companies make key transportation decisions that reduce deadhead miles, enable collaboration across teams, and help companies better predict disruptions while improving resiliency.  

“In the real world, supply chain visibility expands well beyond this basic definition to include real-time data about logistics and other aspects of the supply chain beyond transportation; the ability to help companies maneuver around inventory shortages, avoid bottlenecks, meet compliance directives and track products through to delivery; and the visibility both inside a company’s own operational borders and across its partner network,” said Ken Sherman, president, IntelliTrans.

Global supply chains are dealing with major pandemic-driven challenges today and need technology to improve efficiencies while tackling these issues and serving customers. Here’s how supply chain control towers help: 

• Provide real-time transparency by analyzing and comparing data using scenarios and digital twins to predict deviations that will impact shipments. This enables operational personnel to focus their energy on the most important exceptions first, reducing risk and cost.
• Visibility gleaned from supply chain data inputs can be translated into a higher level of understanding on what to do next and how to automate routine, repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable time and improving employee engagement.
• Using cognitive automation, control towers learn from the actions and decisions that are being made to drive ongoing operational improvements, mitigate disruption, and provide higher levels of customer service.
• By combining human and machine intelligence, modern control towers help users generate the absolute best outcomes. Machines sift through large quantities of data while humans manage the intricacies of relationships and other human elements of the supply chain.
• Equipping businesses to establish, track, and sustain achievement of their KPIs by monitoring progress on the fly, over time. They also send alerts when anomalies occur (i.e., a potential out-of-stock situation on a critical raw material or component) and calculate the impact of that anomaly on the end-to-end supply chain. Armed with this information, supply chain managers can make quick and accurate decisions and avoid potential disruptions. 
• Enable collaboration across teams and trading associates to accelerate and improve decision-making and outcomes.
• Gives visibility into a company’s ESG performance so businesses make decisions and adjustments to optimize operations. For example, the control tower can look at alternative transportation modes to minimize travel and reduce emissions. 

IntelliTrans’ Global Control Tower provides high levels of supply chain transparency; aggregates, completes, and enhances data from a variety of sources; offers visibility into and execution of different aspects of the supply chain; and generates data-driven alerts and analytics that ask deeper questions and deliver meaningful insights.  

By leveraging tracking information, the Global Control Tower provides analytics that measures key performance indicators (KPIs) like fleet cycle time, origin/destination dwell time, lane and carrier performance, back orders, freight spend, load optimization, and more. With their rate, equipment, lease, shipment, tracking, and invoice data in a central repository that’s accessible 24/7, companies can position themselves for success in any market conditions.  

### 

 Media Contact:
Becky Boyd
MediaFirst PR (M1PR.com)
404.421.8497
becky@mediafirst.net

IntelliTrans Recognized in 2022 Gartner “Magic Quadrant” for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms  

IntelliTrans Recognized in the Niche Player Quadrant

 Atlanta, GA — June 9, 2022 — IntelliTrans, the leader in global multi-modal solutions that optimize supply chain operations for bulk and break-bulk product manufacturers, is recognized as a Niche Player in the 2022 Magic QuadrantÔ for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms authored by Gartner Analyst Carly West. In the report, “Gartner defines the real-time transportation visibility platform (RTTVP) market as those vendors offering platforms that provide commercial customers and consumers with real–time insights into their orders and shipments once they have left the warehouse of a brand owner, supplier, or service provider.” 

“We are proud that the IntelliTrans Global Visibility Platform (GVP) continues to be recognizedas a Niche Player in this Magic Quadrant report for the second time,” said Ken Sherman, President, IntelliTrans. “We believe this is a validation of our powerful and comprehensive visibility platform, which brings value to clients through automated business processes that streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve customer service.” 

“A Gartner Magic Quadrant is a culmination of research in a specific market, giving you a wide-angle view of the relative positions of the market’s competitors.” Further, “A Magic Quadrant provides a graphical competitive positioning of four types of technology providers, in markets where growth is high and provider differentiation is distinct: Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries, and Niche Players.” Gartner adds that, “By applying a graphical treatment and a uniform set of evaluation criteria, a Magic Quadrant helps you quickly ascertain how well technology providers are executing their stated visions and how well they are performing against Gartner’s market view. “ 

In our opinion, as a Niche Player, IntelliTrans delivers the most value to companies that manufacture bulk & break-bulk products like forest products, metals, plastics, and chemicals. These industries have different supply chain needs than retail & consumer products companies, including but not limited to doing most of their shipping via rail and specialty truck equipment (flatbed, tanks, hoppers, etc.). IntelliTrans’ solutions are uniquely suited to address those requirements. 

The IntelliTrans Global Visibility Platform is purpose-built to bring supply chain visibility and execution across truck, rail, barge, and ocean transportation modes to its global clients in the petrochemical, metal and mining, logistics service provider, forest product, and building materials industries. GVP is a Global Control Tower that provides facility visibility and management of yards, docks, and inventory. 

GARTNER and MAGIC QUADRANT are a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

### 

 Media Contact:
Becky Boyd
MediaFirst PR (M1PR.com)
404.421.8497
becky@mediafirst.net

IntelliTrans Helps Freight Rail Service Providers Improve Rail Operations 

 Managed Rail Services Eases Labor Shortages  

Atlanta, GA — IntelliTrans, the leader in global multi-modal solutions that optimize supply chain operations for bulk and break-bulk product manufacturers, discusses the recent service disruptions of Class 1 railroads that led to revenue losses and additional freight expenses for shippers. The National Grain and Feed Association estimates that the losses to the grain industry will exceed $100 million in the first quarter of 2022. Recently the Surface Transportation Board (STB) suggested short-term measures to address these issues, but many shippers believe these measures aren’t enough. 

“Today, because of precision scheduled railroading (PSR) and the focus on improving Operating Ratio, railroads are struggling to handle increased volume as well as network disruptions,” says Ken Sherman, president of IntelliTrans. “Many in the rail business blame the pandemic and staff reductions, but in the five years before the pandemic, rail providers reduced their operational staffing by 25 to 43 percent. The results have been very impactful. The railroads have cut so much from their operating budgets via labor reductions and idling locomotives that the industry has reached critical service challenges.”

Last week the STB considered several short-term measures for rail service improvements. Per an article in FreightWaves, “The board, the railroads and rail’s stakeholders are under pressure to tackle tough questions that could more comprehensively affect how the railroads run their operations. These questions also touch on freight rail’s long-term health, and viability in a transportation sector bent on an automated future.”

The US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the STB, “There is no single step available to deliver ideal freight rail service overnight. The federal infrastructure law enacted last year is a historic opportunity to transform both freight and passenger rail for the better.’”

However, the answers to the problems are just as complex as the problems. The STB wants to require Class 1 railroads to submit rail service improvement plans that include the headcount needed and anticipated recovery timelines.

“Shippers can’t offload significant portions of their rail transport shipments to the trucking industry because the volumes are just staggering,” said Brian Cupp, Director of Operations, IntelliTrans. “Plus, roads would become too clogged, trucks are less environmentally friendly, and securing truck capacity in the current tight market can be more expensive.”

Technology can help solve issues in the rail industry by automating transportation operations,including visibility into transportation management and managed transportation services to augment the workforce. IntelliTrans has over 25 years of experience in the rail industry, providing managed rail transportation services to monitor, manage, and automate freight rail services. For one customer, IntelliTrans was able to reduce the rail fleet size by 5%, despite increased sales; key customer inventory was reduced by 50%; and an issue where an average of 90 misrouted or lost railcars/month was resolved.

IntelliTrans offers freight management, strategic planning, tactical execution, in-transit tracking, freight invoice auditing and payment, advanced analytics, transportation management, yard management, reporting, and supply chain visibility backed by a team of experts who work with customers to help their businesses work smarter, faster, and better. Interactive dashboards make large amounts of data easy to understand. The advanced analytics uncover more detailed answers with machine learning to help businesses make more informed decisions and drive continuous improvement.

###

Media Contact:

Becky Boyd
MediaFirst PR (M1PR.com)
404.421.8497
becky@mediafirst.net

IntelliTrans’ DockMaster Lowers Detention Fees and Eliminates Wasted Time in the Yard 

One Shipper Went from 64% of Loads Subject to Demurrage to 15% in the First Month 

Atlanta, GA — IntelliTrans, the leader in global multi-modal solutions that optimize supply chain operations for bulk and break-bulk product manufacturers, improves detention with its DockMasterSM solution. IntelliTrans’ dock door scheduling tool, DockMaster, is a SaaS-based application that provides real-time visibility to make scheduling dock appointments easier and more accurate. 

“Many companies pay insufficient attention to what is going on in the yard despite increased congestion, adversely affecting a driver’s Hours of Service requirements and, therefore, driver satisfaction,” said Ken Sherman, president, IntelliTrans. “Being a shipper of choice is crucial in today’s supply chain, and having dissatisfied drivers at your carriers does not result in that outcome. It is estimated that the trucking industry loses $1.3 billion annually waiting at customer facilities to pick up and deliver cargo.” 

DockMaster helps shippers and carriers improve communications and reduce errors. Planning labor to ensure workers are available to load and unload cargo helps keep drivers on the road, reducing congestion in the yard. Shippers use DockMaster to schedule pickups and deliveries by their selected carriers, routing them to a pre-assigned loading or unloading door.  

“Carriers charge accessorial fees to shippers to drive better behavior. Detention time is a big issue for fleets and can lead to demurrage fees that eat into profits,” adds Sherman. “IntelliTrans DockMaster improves efficiencies and reduces wait times. It also reduces excess greenhouse gas emissions caused by trucks idling at your facilities.” 

With DockMaster, shippers get real-time visibility into what is happening in the yard. They can configure an appointment book for any location in minutes based on its business rules. Carriers schedule dock appointments online, and they know which products to load, the hours ofoperation of the shipper, shipping instructions, and more. With DockMaster, bottlenecks at the dock or in the yard are eliminated. One shipper went from 64% of loads subject to demurrage to 15% in the first month DockMaster was deployed for them. 

Outbound and subsequent inbound scheduling can provide advance shipping notifications and proofs of delivery throughout the supply chain. DockMaster is also a module within theIntelliTrans TMS, allowing users to manage their rail, truck, intermodal, ocean, and barge shipments in a single platform. 

###

 Media Contact:
Becky Boyd
MediaFirst PR (M1PR.com)
404.421.8497
becky@mediafirst.net