Pierbridge, a leading enterprise transportation management software provider, in partnership with North American third-party logistics (3PL) company, Cerasis, announces the addition of its multi-carrier parcel shipping solution to the Cerasis Rater, a web-based transportation management system (TMS). The addition of multi-carrier shipping options for the parcel mode now empowers shippers to manage all over-the-road transportation modes within one web-based portal.
The new multi-carrier parcel shipping solution within the Cerasis Rater is powered by Pierbridge’s Transtream enterprise parcel shipping technology. Transtream automates cartonization, rating, routing, shipping, tracking, and returns for hundreds of carrier services.
"Controlling shipping costs is now a board-level concern, especially with the growth of e-commerce," said Pierbridge CEO Bob Malley. “Our partnership with Cerasis will provide Transtream users with more choices to ship anywhere, from anywhere, by any carrier. Cerasis’ transportation management system technology, expertise, and brokerage services will be a very welcome addition to Transtream's portfolio of carrier services."
The Cerasis Rater has supported the ability to manage transportation by processing shipments in the Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) and Full Truckload (FT) transportation modes, and some limited parcel carrier shipping functionality for the last 20 years. Now more multi-parcel carrier options are available, including the big three parcel carriers, UPS, FedEx, and the United States Postal Service, as well as regional parcel carriers such as LSO, and same-day delivery services such as Deliv. This mirrors Cerasis’ longstanding goal of providing shippers with more transportation choices.
The power of shippers having over-the-road mode choice within one portal gives them the ability to choose the best carrier for that specific shipment. Within the web-based TMS, the Cerasis Rater, shippers can choose multi-modal carriers based on cost, limit of liability, and transit time.
In a first-of-its-kind offering within one TMS, shippers may, in real time, compare multi-carrier parcel shipping information, such as costs or transit time, to multi-LTL carrier shipping information. Shippers may then choose to move freight with either option depending on what is best for the shipper at that time. The TMS allows the shipper to then book the freight no matter what mode, ensuring that transportation management goals are met.
Features of the multi-carrier parcel shipping solution:
- Choose from multiple parcel carriers by price and transit time
- Compare parcel and LTL modes per 100 weight in real time and choose which is best for your shipment
- Configure shipping & handling costs in admin mode to ensure the proper costs for your customer are added to each shipment
- In addition to offering all over-the-road modes with enterprise ground parcel management, Transtream provides access to intercontinental and international air freight services in the Cerasis Rater
The partnership of Pierbridge and Cerasis makes natural sense. Both companies are founded on the vision of utilizing technology to solve complex transportation management problems. Additionally, the companies respond to market demands and user feedback to improve proprietary technology platforms that enable shippers to reduce transportation costs, which can make up a large majority of supply chain budgets, while allowing shippers to reduce soft costs by gaining efficiency in shipping processes and avoiding costly errors.
“At the heart of this partnership with Pierbridge is providing a holistic over-the-road transportation management solution for shippers in North America,” said Steve Ludvigson, co-founder and president of Cerasis. “For more than two decades, Cerasis has continually looked at how we may provide more value for shippers by looking at how technology can aid shippers in reaching overall transportation and supply chain goals.”
The now more robust transportation management technology offering, with the introduction of multi-carrier parcel shipping solutions in this partnership with Pierbridge, powered by Transtream, accompanies the existing transportation technology solutions offered by Cerasis to include:
- eCommerce solutions for parcel and LTL
- Transportation visibility through tracking and automatic alerts
- Robust reporting and analytics
- Enterprise visibility and control for cost compliance measures and management
- Mobile application support
- Transportation accounting (auditing, invoice consolidation, online access)
- Carrier rate negotiation and maintenance
- Connect services to include integration with other supply chain technology, API, web services, and EDI
Shippers now have more control, visibility, and management when it comes to transportation management for all over-the-road modes with the Cerasis Rater inclusion of the innovative multi-carrier parcel shipping solution in partnership with Pierbridge, powered by Transtream. Shippers may request a demo of the Cerasis Rater or ask to speak to an account executive by visiting Cerasis.com.