While the logistics industry is still in the early stages of adopting AI in its supply chain, many companies are investing in digital abilities to expand services to clients. In times of uncertainty, it’s the ability of a logistics company to offer real-time container analysis for clients and provide them with certainty that makes a difference.
The freight recession continues to weed out the diversified logistics companies versus the overhyped, flash-in-the-pan logistics companies that masked themselves as “tech companies.” While valuations of these companies have made them Wall Street darlings, the CEOs who make grand promises can’t shield their companies from the reality that they are one-trick ponies.
The digital arena has been flooded with logistics visibility platforms the past several years. Charmed by the promises they offer, logistics companies pay to access these platforms and use several in order to achieve full visibility of their supply chain.
ITS Logistics is entering this digital arena with its container management and visibility platform ContainerAI. The platform, which is free for clients, offers a full tech stack of digital data that shows a client’s full supply chain from origin to destination. ContainerAI is also available as a stand-alone software-as-a-service offering for any containers that are not managed by ITS.
The 25-year-old logistics company is also a member of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s data-sharing initiative, Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW), and ContainerAI has been integrated into it.
The platform, which took four years of testing, includes ocean voyages, port charges, container dwell time, rail transport and ground logistics.
“ContainerAI equips our team and our customers with the foresight to improve efficiency, reduce costs and avoid demurrage, detention and accessorial fees,” explained Paul Brashier, vice president of drayage and intermodal for ITS Logistics.
The company is doubling down on its digital platform, investing more than $30 million, expanding its tech team in Reno, Nevada, building a new tech office in Chennai, India, and announcing the opening of a new Tech Innovation Center in Silicon Valley.
“While most platforms in this space were brought to market by tech-first companies without a lot of operational experience, our platform was built from the ground up based on our decades of logistical service,” Brashier said.