Setting Sights on Real-time Freight Visibility for Expedited Loads
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
- Canada
Product
- Descartes MacroPoint
- MercuryGate TMS
Tech Stack
- Real-time Load Tracking
- Cloud-based Solution
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Customer Satisfaction
- Productivity Improvements
- Cost Savings
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Fleet Management Systems (FMS)
- Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
Applicable Industries
- Transportation
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Fleet Management
- Track & Trace of Assets
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- System Integration
- Software Design & Engineering Services
About The Customer
BlueGrace Logistics is a Tampa-based, full-service Third Party Logistics (3PL) provider that helps businesses manage their freight spend through industry-leading technology with a large network of established carriers to customers across the country. The company has grown rapidly from a 24-person company to over 500 employees across 11 locations in the U.S. BlueGrace offers a suite of services including less than truckload (LTL), truckload (TL), and transportation management services. The company is known for its progressive approach to transportation management and its commitment to building dependable relationships between customers, carriers, and logistics experts. BlueGrace's customer base includes airline and automotive parts manufacturers, consumer packaged goods companies, businesses in construction delivery, and food distribution.
The Challenge
In less than 10 years, BlueGrace has grown rapidly from a 24-person company to over 500 employees across 11 locations in the U.S. In August of 2016, the company decided to add expedited freight to its suite of offerings that already included less than truckload (LTL), truckload (TL) and transportation management services. In establishing the service level standards for the new division, BlueGrace outlined a number of key objectives, including the ability to meet demanding pick-up and delivery times; support specific appointments, as well as deliver weekends, nights and holidays; quote a guaranteed rate and capacity within 30 minutes; offer 2-day cross-country service—and provide not only 24/7 booking but also 24/7 tracking. Taking this even further, BlueGrace wanted to be able to provide its shipper customers with location updates every 2 hours for 1-day deliveries, and every 4 hours for 2+ day deliveries.
The Solution
BlueGrace turned to a technology-based solution to replace traditional track and trace practices with true end-to-end supply chain visibility. Integrated with the company’s MercuryGate TMS, the Descartes MacroPoint platform gives BlueGrace, its carrier network, and its diverse shipper customers real-time visibility into load status. Using the system, BlueGrace can closely monitor and evaluate the movement of all shipments in one portal, whether goods are moving by vans, semis, or domestic air. Within a year, the division had grown by 350%, mirroring the same hyper-growth the company has experienced since inception. The expedited team currently handles 25-30 shipments per day, or approximately 4,000 annually. In addition, the cloud-based solution easily facilitates collaboration across operations staff in Tampa, and division management in Cedar Rapids, IA. Descartes MacroPoint has become a critical tool for helping the company simplify expedited freight, increase productivity, and save costs across the supply chain.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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