The National Motor Freight Traffic Association recently launched a Digital Full Truckload (FTL) Council, bringing together the digital standards for less-than-truckload and FTL segments.
In addition, the organization has also formed a Digital Standards Development Council (DSDC) to manage the two segments, and boost efforts to digitize the freight industry.
The NMFTA began its digitization efforts with the LTL sector in 2020, when the Digital LTL Council was formed, which included carriers, shippers, technology providers, and logistics companies. The council released its first standard, the electronic Bill of Landing (eBOL), in 2021, which has since been adopted by LTL companies. Since then, the Council has released an update to eBOL.
Keith Peterson, director of operations for NMFTA, said that with the Digital LTL Council having worked on API standards for some time, they noticed an opportunity. “LTL and FTL share many common needs, and we saw that there was an opportunity to increase our scope and try to have an effect on the industry as a whole," he said.
With that, they formed the Digital FTL Council to concentrate on the needs of the FTL segment, while also collaborating with the Digital LTL Council to take advantage of common standards.
“Our goal is to simplify the integration between carriers, shippers, technology providers, and logistics companies by creating and publishing an agreed upon set of minimum best practices that enable a fully digital logistics process,” Peterson added.
On the necessity of two different entities, Peterson noted, “There are still large enough differences [between LTL and FTL] to warrant two separate councils.” The DSDC was created to oversee the activities of both boards and ensure a coordinated effort.
The DSDC will offer an avenue between the FTL and LTL sectors to share application programming interface standards, and foster better communication among carriers, shippers, 3PLs, and technology providers. Representatives includes executives from Averitt, C.H. Robinson, e2open, J.B. Hunt, Nordstorm, One Network Enterprises, Uber Freight, and U.S. Bank Freight Payment.
“We have successfully gathered a group of well-known industry leaders who are enthusiastic about this strategy and champion our effort to ensure digital standards are developed,” said NMFTA executive director Debbie Sparks.
Stuart Scott, chief information officer and executive vice president of J.B. Hunt Transport, noted, “NMFTA’s expertise and proven history in standards development provided a strong foundation for our working relationship. Through the Digital FTL and LTL Councils we will deepen collaboration and advance digital standards across the logistics industry.”
New standard
On Thursday, the Digital LTL Council released its next standard, Pickup Request and Visibility. The new API reduces phone calls and streamlines coordination for all parties involved in shipment order pickups. It is designed to make it easy for carriers, shippers, and 3PLs to apply a single standard on which to make a request and monitor the status of the driver to pickup the shipment. Users can request and receive an acknowledgement and access status updates on the pickup, including notice of delays from the carrier.
The launch aligns with the council’s mission to fully digitize the LTL shipment lifecycle over the next few years, said Peterson. “This is just the beginning, with more initiatives planned to drive innovation and benefit our industry in the new year," he said.
In the coming months ahead, Peterson said that the FTL board is evaluating APIs that are needed and working with the LTL team to determine where a collaborative effort is needed.
